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THE 

HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL 


AND    THE 


IDEA  OF  EVIL 


FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY 


BY 

DR.    PAUL  CARUS 


'  Ich  kaiin  mich  iiicht  heredc7i  lassen, 
Mac/it  mir  den   Teiifi/  iiur  iiicJil  klein ; 
Ein  Kerl  den  alle  Menschen  hassen, 
Der  muss  was  sein  !  " 

— GOETHE 


CHICAGO 
THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

324  DEARBORN  STREET 

LONDON 

•    GAN  Paul,  Trench,  Truener  &  Co.  (Ltd.),  Paternoster  House 

Charing  Cross  Road 

1900 


"f- 


cm  VRIGHTTBV-^,     ^^"^ 

The  Opex  GoiRT  PuBiisHi^G  Co. 


e^- 


CHICAGO,  U.  S.  A. 
AU  rignts  reserved. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGK 

Good  and  Evil  as  Religious  Ideas i 

Devil  Worship 6 

Ancient  Egypt 15 

Accad  and  the  Early  Semites 29 

Persian  Dualism 50 

Israel 65 

Brahmanism  and  Hinduism 74 

Buddhism 104 

The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era 137 

Early  Christianity 157 

The  Idea  of  Salvation  in  Greece  and  Italy 193 

T.ie  Demonology  of  Northern  Europe 241 

The  Devil's  Prime 262 

The  Inquisition 306 

The  Age  of  the  Reformation 338 

The  Abolition  of  Witch-Prosecution 370 

In  Verse  and  Fable 407 

The  Philosophical  Problem  of  Good  and  Evil.     .     .     .     .     .  439 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Frontispiece. 

Demonolatrous  Ceremonies  of  the  Old   Inhabitants  of  Haiti. 

After  Picart ii 

Human  Sacrifices  Among  the  Greeks.    After  an  ancient  cameo 

in  Berlin 12 

A  Hind  Substituted  for  Iphigenia.      After  a  Pompeian  fresco        13 

Apapi  (Apophis)  and  Atmu.      After  Rawlinson 16 

Forms  of  Taourt.     After  Rawlinson 16 

Beth.      After  Brugsch 16 

The  Soul  Visiting  the  Mummy.     From  the  Ani  Papyrus  .        16 

Set  Teaching  the  King  the  Art  of  War.    After  Erman   ...        18 
The  Weighing  of   the   Heart   in   the   Hall   of   Truth.      After 

Lepsius's  reproduction  of  the  Turin  papyrus      ....        21 
The  Abode   of   Bliss.      After   Lepsius's   reproduction   of   the 

Turin  papyrus 25 

Xisuthrus  (the  Babj'lonian  Noah)  in  the  Ark.      After  an   an- 
cient Bab3lonian  cylinder.      Reproduced  from   Smith     .        32 
Wall  Decorations  of  the  Royal  Palace  at  Nineveh  in  Their 

Present  State.    After  Place,  reproduced  from  Lenormant       33 
Sacred  Tree  and  Serpent.      From  an  ancient  Babylonian  cyl- 
inder.     After  Smith 35 

The  Tree  of  Life.      Decorations  on  the  embroidery  of  a  royal 

mantle.      British  Museum 36 

Merodach   Delivering  the  Moon-God  from   the  Evil  Spirits. 

From  a  Babylonian  cylinder.     Smith 37 

The  Chaldean  Trinity   Blessing   the   Tree   of   Life.      British 

Museum 40 


VI  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

PAGE 

The  Goddess  Anna.      Bas-relief  in  the  British  Museum      .      .  40 

Fight  Between  Bel-Merodach  and  Tiamat.      British  Museum  41 

Evil  Demons.      British  Museum 43 

Demon  of  the  Southwest  Wind.    Statue  in  the  Louvre.   After 

Lenormant 44 

Nirgalli.      British  Museum.      After  Lenormant 45 

An  Ancient  Assyrian  Bronze  Tablet  Representing  the  World 
in  the  Clutches  of  an  Evil  Demon.      Collection  of  M.  de 

Clercq.     After  Lenormant 46 

An  Assyrian  Cameo 59 

A  Persian  Cameo 59 

Assyrian  Cylinder 59 

Sculptures  on  a  Royal  Tomb.     Lenormant 60 

Bas-Relief  of  Persepolis.      Lenormant 61 

The  King  Slaying  a  Unicorn.      Bas-relief  of  Persepolis     .      .  63 
Saul  and  the  Witch  of  Endor.      After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld  68 
Assyrian  Goat  Demons.      Carvings  on  a  boulder.      After  Le- 
normant         6g 

The  Brahman  Triniurti.     After  Coleman 75 

Brahma.      Fragment  of  a  car.      Mus6e  Guimet 76 

Brahma  and  Suraswati.      Reproduced  from  Hermann  Goll     .  77 
Vishnu,  Lakshmi,  and  Brahma.      After  a  native  illustration, 

reproduced  from  Hermann  Goll 78 

The  Matsya  Avatar  or  Fish  Incarnation.  From  Picart  .  .  79 
The  Kurm  Avatar  or  Tortoise  Incarnation  From  Picart  .  .  79 
The  Varaha  Avatar  or  Wild  Boar  Incarnation.  From  Picart  79 
The  Narasinha  Avatar  or  Man-Lion  Incarnation.  From  Picart  79 
Lakshmi,  the  Goddess  of  Beauty.  Musi^e  Guimet  ...  80 
Vishnu  Narasinha.  Fragment  of  a  car.  Musee  Guimet  .  .  81 
Hanuman,  the  Monkey  King,  Building  the  Bridge  Over  the 
Strait  Between  India  and  Lanka.  Reproduced  from  Her- 
mann Goll        82 

The  Vamana  Avatar  or  Dwarf  Incarnation 83 

The  Parashura  Avatar,  or  Battle-Ax  Incarnation       ....  83 

The  Rama  Chandra  Avatar 83 

The  Krishna  Avatar 83 


LIvST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  Vll 

PAGE 

The  Monkey  King  Sugriva  Fighting.    Reproduced  from  Cole- 
man      84 

Vishnu  and   Shri-Lakshmi  as   Rama  Chandra  and  Sita  After 

Their  Happy  Reunion.      Reproduced  from  Coleman  .  85 
Hanuman   Reciting   His  Adventures   to   Rama  Chandra   and 

Sita.      Reproduced  from  Coleman 86 

Krishna  Nursed  by  Devaki.    Reproduced  from  Moore's  Hindu 

Pantheon 87 

Krishna.      Bronze  statue,  Mus^e  Guimet 88 

Krishna,  the  Favorite  of  the  Country  Lasses  of  Gokula.     Re- 
produced from  Coleman 89 

Krishna's  Adventures.      Reproduced  from  Coleman       ...  90 
The  Battle  Between  the  Kurus  and  Pandus  on   the  Field  of 

Kurukshetra.      Reproduced  from  Wilkins gi 

Jagannath  with  His  Two  Companions.      After  Schlagintweit  92 

Shiva  with  Parvati.     Mus^e  Guimet ■    .      .  93 

Shiva-Trimurti,      Mus^e  Guimet 93 

Shiva  Dancing  Surrounded  by  a  Halo  of  Flames.      Bronze 

Statue,  Mus^e  Guimet        94 

The  Buddha  Avatar  or  Vishnu's  Incarnation   as  the  Enlight- 
ened Teacher  of  Mankind.      Reproduced  from  Picart  95 
The  Kalki  Avatar  or  the  White-Horse   Incarnation.      From 

Picart 95 

Shiva  Worship.      From  Picart 95 

Shiva  and  Parvati.      From  Goll 96 

Kali.     After  an  Indian  picture.      From  Schlagintweit    ...  97 

Durga.      Indian  sculpture.      From  Schlagintweit       ....  98 

mKha'  sGroma,  the  Tibetan  Kali.      Musee  Guimet  .      .      ,      .  99 

Kali-Durga  in  the  Hindu  Pantheon.      From  Wilkins     .      .  100 

Hari  Hara.     From  Wilkins loi 

Ganesa.      From  Wilkins 102 

Agni.      From  Hermann  Goll 102 

Kama.      From  WoUheim  da  Fonceka 102 

Shiva  Slaying  a  Demon.      From  Wilkins 102 

The  Demon  of  Lightning.      A  Japanese  temple  statue       .      .  106 

The  Demon  of  Thunder.      A  Japanese  temple  statue     .      .      .  107 


Vlll  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

PAGE 

Mara's  Army.      Gandhara   sculptures.      Museum  of   Lahore. 

From  Griinwedel no 

Buddha,  Tempted   by  Mara's  Daughters.      Gandhara  sculp- 
tures.    Reproduced  from  Griinwedel 114 

An  Indian  Wheel  of  Life.    From  L.  E.  Waddell's  picture  iig 

A  Tibetan  Wheel  of  Life.      From  Bastian        121 

A  Japanese  Wheel  of  Life.      From  Bastian 123 

Meifu,  the  Dark  Tribunal.      From  Karma         128 

Kongo,  the  Sheriff.      From  a  Japanese  art  print         ....  130 

Emma,  the  Judge.      From  a  Japanese  art  print 130 

The  Devil  as  a  Monk.   Japanese  wood  carving,  Musee  Guimet  131 
Oni-no-Nembutzu.     After  a  wood  carving  in  the  author's  pos- 
session      132 

Hono-Kuruma,    the    Cart    of    Hell.      After    an   old   Japanese 

painting 133 

Tibetan  Devil's  Altar.      From  Waddell        134 

Buddha  Extending   His   Help  to  a  Sufferer  in   Hell.      From 

Karma 136 

The  Christian   Trinity,   God  Father,   Son,  and   Holy  Ghost. 

Reproduced  from  Muther        139 

Asmodi,  an   Evil  Spirit,  Cast  Out  by  Prayer.      After  Schnorr 

von  Carolsfeld 141 

Heaven   and    Hell.      After  H.  F.,   an  unknown  Old-German 

master 144 

The  Holy  Trinity  in  the  Vatican.      After  Pietro  Berrettini  146 
The  Buddhist  Trinity,  the  Buddha,  the  Dharma,  the  Sangha. 

Mus^e  Guimet 147 

The  Trinity  and  Mary.      After  Lubke 148 

The  Christian  Trinity.      From  Bastian 149 

The  Trinity  of  Salerno.    Sketched  by  the  artist  of  the  Gartcn- 

laube 150 

Jacob  Bohme 151 

Vignette  of  Jacob  Bohme's  Book  on  the  Threefold  Life  of 

Man        152 

The  Three  Principles.      Frontispiece  of  Jacob  Bohme's  book  153 

Jesus  Casting  Out  Devils.      After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld        .  158 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  ix 

PAGE 

The  Fiend,  Sowing  Tares  Among  the  Wheat.      From  a  Ger- 
man Picture-Bible 158 

Dives  Enjoying  Life,  and   Lazarus  Suffering.      From  a  Ger- 
man Picture-Bible 160 

Dives  Tormented  in  Hell.      From  a  German  Picture-Bible  160 

Cast  Into  Outer  Darkness  Where  There  Shall  be  Weeping 

and  Gnashing  of  Teeth.      From  a  German  Picture-Bible      161 

The  Day  of  the  Lord.      After  Michelangelo 162 

The  Last  Judgment.      A  fresco  in  the  Campo  Santo,  Pisa  164 

The  Christian  World-Dispensation  According  to  St.  John  the 

Divine.     After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld i6g 

The   Four  Riders  of  the  Apocalypse.      Wall-painting  on  the 

Campo  Santo,  Berlin 170 

The  Woman  of  Abominations.  By  Albrecht  Diirer  .  .  .  172 
Christ's  Descent  Into  Hell.  By  Sasha  Schneider  .  .  .  .  176 
Christian  Representation  of  the  Last  Judgment.     From  K/as- 

sischer  Sktilpturenschatz        1 80 

Christian   Representation  01   Hell.      From  Klassischer  Skulp- 

turcnschatz         181 

The  Typical  Conception   of   Hell.      German  woodcut  of  the 

age  of  the  Reformation 185 

Weighing  the  Evil  and  the  Good  of  the  Soul.      From  the  ca- 
thedral in  Autun,  France 188 

The  Doom  of  the  Damned.  After  Luca  Signorelli  .  .  .  i8g 
The    Trinity   Ideal   of    Mediaeval   Christianity.      Reproduced 

from  Muther igo 

Hades.      From  Mon.  I/ist 194 

Human  Sacrifices  at  the  Funeral  Pyre  of   Patroclus.      From 

Michaelis,  Handbuch  der  Kuiistgescliiclitf 195 

Christ's  Death  on  the  Cross  and  its  Prototypes.      Biblia  Paii- 

perum.      Woodcut  of  the  fifteenth  century ig6 

Tuchulcha,  the  Demon  of  Infernal  Tortures  According  to  the 
Belief  of  the  Etruscans.     Part  of  a  wall-picture  of  a  tomb 

in  Corneto         197 

Charun,  the  Etruscan  Demon  of  Death,  Waiting  for  a  Victim 

From  an  Etruscan  vase 197 


X  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

PAGE 

Oknos  and  the  Daughters  of   Danaos  in  Hades.      Frieze  of  a 

Roman  wall  decoration igy 

Ixion  on  the  Fiery  Wheel ig8 

Gigantomachy ;  the  Giants  Storming  Heaven.      \'atican  Mu- 
seum          1 99 

Zeus  Conquering  T)'phceus.      Baumeister         199 

Gigantomachy;  the  Giants  Storming  Heaven.      Greek  frieze  200 

War  in  Heaven.      By  Albrecht  Diirer 201 

Chimaera  of  Arezzo.      Now  at  Florence        202 

Theseus  and  Pirithous.      Baumeister 203 

Perseus  with   the   Head  of  the  Decapitated   Medusa.      Bau- 
meister    204 

Perseus  and  Andromeda.      Baumeister         205 

Sicilian  Coin  with  Medusa  Head 206 

The  Gorgoneion  on  the  Shield  of  Phidias's  Athene        .      .      .  206 
Gorgoneion,  Ancient  Face  of  the  Gorgon  Medusa.      Glypto- 

thek,  Munich 207 

Medusa  Rondanini.      Glyptothek,  Munich        207 

Bellerophon  Slaying  the  Chimaera.     British  'Museum      .      .      .  208 

The  Lion-Killing  Hero  of  Khorsabad 209 

Prometheus  Tied  b\'  Zeus  to  the   Stake  (or  Cross)  and  Ex- 
posed to  the  Eagle  ;   Rescued  by   Hercules.      Vase  now 

at  Berlin,  Baumeister 210 

The  Myth  of  Prometheus  on  a  Sarcophagus 212 

The    Temptations    of    Christ.      Mosaic    in    the    cathedral    of 

Monreale,  Sicily ....  213 

Christian  Gem 218 

Mithras  Monument  of  Ostburken 220 

Mithraic  Symbols.      From  C.  W.  King 220 

Mithras  the  Saviour.      Borghesi  monument,  the  Louvre     .      .  221 

JEon  of  Zrvan  Akarana.      From  Layard 225 

Abraxas  Gem 227 

Agathodaemon.      From  C.  W.  King 227 

lao  Gem 227 

Serapis 228 

Serapis  Gem 229 


LIST  OF  ILHTSTRATIOXS.  XI 

PAGE 

Hermes,  Saviour  of  Souls 230 

Staff  of  Hermes 230 

Hermes  as  Jupiter 230 

A  Ship  Symbolising  the  Church 233 

A  Christian  Gem  with  Serpent 233 

A  Gnostic  Gem 233 

Christian  Symbols  of  the  Catacombs 234 

Aramaean   Warriors,    Wearing   the   Cross    as   an    Amulet   for 

Protection  in  Battle.      After  Wilkinson 235 

St.  Anthony  Fighting  the  Devil  with  the  Cross.      After  Sal- 

vator  Rosa 236 

St.  George,  the  Princess  and  the  Dragon 236 

Archangel  Michael  Copquering  Satan.      By  Raphael.     In  the 

Louvre 238 

Archangel   Michael   Holding   the  Scales  for  Weighing  Souls. 

After  Lorenzo  Sabbatiuri 238 

Hel,  the  Goddess  of  the  Nether  World.     By  Johannes  Gehrts.  242 

Ragnarok,  or  Doomsday  of  the  Teutons.     Bj- Johannes  Gehrts.  244 

Dante's  Ice  Hell.      By  Gustave  Dor6 248 

St.  Dunstan  and  the  Devil.      From  Scheible 255 

The  Legend  of  St.  Cuthbert.      From  the  /ngcilJsi'y  Legends     .  257 

The  Legend  of  St.  Medard.      From  the  Ingoldshv  Legends  .      .  258 

The  Devil's  Bridge  Over  the  Reuss 260 

Modern  Snake  Charmers.      Reproduced  from  Brehm     .      .      .  262 
Moses  and  Aaron  Performing  the  Snake  Miracle  Before  Pha- 
raoh.     After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld 263 

The  Egyptian  Snake  Naja  Haje  Made   Motionless  by  a  Pres- 
sure on  the  Neck.      From  Verworn  after  photographs      .  264 
A  Successful  Rain-Maker  Slaying  His  Rivals.     After  Schnorr 

von  Carolsfeld 267 

Tenskwatawa,  the   Shawano   Prophet  in    1808.      Reproduced 
from   the   Fourteenth   Annual   Report  of  the   Bureau  of 

Ethnology 268 

Tenskwatawa,  the   Shawano   Prophet  in    1831.      Reproduced 
from  the   Fourteenth   Annual   Report  of   the    Bureau   of 

Ethnology 269 


XU  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

PAGE 

The  Ecstasy  of  the  Ghost  Dance  of  the   North  American  In- 
dians         271 

The  Blessing.      A  Ceremony  in  the  Ghost  Dance  of  the  North 

American   Indians 273 

Henricus    Cornelius    Agrippa    ab    Nettesheim.      Reproduced 

from  the  original  edition  of  his  works 274 

Illustrations   from    the   Original   Edition   of    Ociulta   Philoso- 

phia 276,  277 

Exorcising  by  the  Cross.      Bas-relief  on  a  water  vessel  found 

near  Pisama 278 

Text  of  the   Baptismal  Abjuration  Formula  in  Old  Low-Ger- 
man.     From  O.  Henne  am  Rhyn 281 

Specimen   Page   of   an    Illuminated   Initial    in    Heisterbach's 
Dialogus    Miraculorum.      Original    in    Roj'al     Library    at 

Diisseldorf 283 

Witches  Conjuring  a  Hail-Storm 285 

The  Devil  of  Conceit  as  Seen  by  a  Clergyman  on   the  Dress 

of  a  Fashionable  Lady 285 

The  Main  Actors  in  Mediaeval  Mysteries.      From  Dr.  Gustav 

Konnecke 288 

Witches.      From  Horndorff 290 

The  Witches'  Sabbath.      After  Picart 291 

Virgulta  Divina.     From  an  old  MS.  by  George  Conrad  Horst  294 

A  Seal  of  Petrus  de  Albano  for  Conjuring  Good  Spirits      .      .  295 

The  Twelve  Houses  of  a  Horoscope.      From  Gerhard  .  .  295 

The  Sign  of  the  First  Hour  of  Sunday 296 

The  Divine  Name  Arranged  for  Conjuration '   296 

Knight  and  Devil 297 

The  Bishop  of  Lodi    Preaching  at  the  Trial   of  John  Huss. 

From  Castelar 301 

Savonarola 302 

Savonarola  Praying  in  His  Cell.      From  Castelar      ....  303 

Burning  of  Savonarola.      After  Don  Ricardo  Balaca       .      .      .  304 
Pope  Urban  V.  Proclaiming  the   Bull  In  Civna  Domini,  1362, 

Condemning  Heretics 311 

The  Banner  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition.      From  Picart        .  312 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  Xlll 

PACE 

The  Banner  of  the  Incjuisition  of  (}oa.      I'rom  Picart          .  312 

The  Chamber  of  tlie  Inquisition.      From  Picart 313 

Various  Manners  of  CrossExamining  the  Defendants.    From 

Picart 314 

A  Man  and  a  Woman  Convicted  of  Heresy.      From  Picart     .  315 

Heretics  Condemned  to  be  Burned.  From  Picart  .  .  .  316 
A    Man   and   a   Woman    Condemned    to    be   Burned.      From 

Picart 317 

The  Inquisition   in  Session   on  the  Market  Square  at  Madrid. 

From  Picart 318 

Procession  of  the  Inquisition  of  Goa.      From  Picart       .      .  319 

The  Last  Sermon  Preached  to  the  Condemned.     From  Picart  319 

The  Heretics'  Death  on  the  Fagots.      From  Picart  ...  320 

The  Water  Ordeal 327 

The  Torture-Room  at  Nuremberg.  After  C.  Ran.  Repro- 
duced from  B.  E.  Konig 329 

Agnes  Bernauer  Drowned  as  a  Witch  at  the  Request  of  Ernest, 

Duke  of  Bavaria.  Reproduced  from  B.  E.  Konig  .  335 
Satanic  Temptations  and  the  Ladder  of  Life.      From  Heradis 

von  Lansperg's  Hortus  Deliciarum 339 

Calvinism  Tearing  Down  the  Roman  Empire 340 

The   Kingdom   of  Satan  or  the   Seven-Headed   Beast  of   the 

Revelation 341 

Temptation.      A    Protestant    Conception    of    Evil.      German 

woodcut  of  the  time  of  Luther 344 

The  Race  for  Fortune.      After  Henneberg's  oil  painting           .  345 

The  Devil  of  Unchastity.  From  a  German  woodcut  346 
The  Devil  of  Niggardliness  Making  the  Miser  Hard-Hearted. 

By  Hans  Holbein 347 

The  Latest  Fad  in  Clothes  Pilloried.    From  Sigismund  Feyer- 

abend's  Theatruin  Diaholoridin 347 

Scenes  from  M.  Jacob  Ruff's  Religious  Drama 348 

Macbeth  Consulting  the  Witches 349 

The  Natural  State  of  Man 354 

The  Holy  Ghost  Illumines  the  Heart 354 

The  Holy  Ghost  in  Possession 355 


XIV  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

PAGE 

The  Passion  of  Christ  in  the  Heart 355 

The  Holy  Trinity  Resides  in  the  Heart  .      .           356 

New  Temptations 356 

Satan's  Return  with   Seven   Other  Spirits  More  Wicked  than 

Himself 357 

The  Impious  Man  Is  Doomed  When  He  Dies            ....  357 

A  Heart  Fortified  in  Christ 358 

The  Pious  Man  is  Saved  at  Death 358 

Poster  of  the  Sixteenth  Century 361 

Facsimile  of  the  Contract  Which  Urban  Grandier  is  Reported 

to  have  Made  with  the  Devil 364 

Apparitions  of  the  Cross.      From  Griinbeck 371 

Friedrich  von  Spee.      After  a  picture  in   the  Marzellen-Gym- 

nasium  at  Cologne 376 

Illustrations  from  the  Dnitenzeitung,  1627 378 

Balthasar  Bekker.      From  a  portrait  on  the   title-page  of  Die 

bezaii/'crtc  JVelt 380 

Bekker's  Autograph.  From  his  original  handwriting  .  .  .  381 
Christian  Thomasius.    From  a  copper  engraving  by  M.  Berni- 

groth 382 

Signature  of  Christian  Thomasius 383 

Schottel's  Wheel  of  Hell 385 

The  Christian  Hell 3S8 

Schwenter's  Hen  E.xperiment.      Reproduced  by  Father  Atha- 

nasius  Kircher 391 

Pater  Gassner.  Etching  by  Daniel  Chodowiecki  ....  392 
Demons  on   the  Tomb   of   Dagobert.      Church  of  St.  Denys, 

near  Paris 412 

Covetousness.      Library  of  St.  Genevieve,  Paris 413 

Faust  Signing   the   Contract  with  the   Devil   in   Blood.      By 

Franz  Simm 414 

The  Legend  of  Theophilus.  From  Monk  Conrad's  illu- 
mined MS 416 

Mephistopheles   Making   His   Appearance  in   Faust's   Study. 

After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld 419 


LIST  OK  ILLUSTRATIONS.  XV 

PAGE 

Faust   Beholding   the   Emblem   of  the  Macrocosm.      After  P. 

Rembrandt 419 

Faust  Riding  on  a  Barrel  out  of  Auerbach's  Cellar.      Fresco.  420 
The  Sense-Illusions  of  the  Riotous  Students  and  Faust's  Es- 
cape.     After  P.  Cornelius 420 

Faust  Enjoying  Himself  in  Auerbach's  Cellar.      P'resco  421 
Mephistopheles   Having   Faust   Buried  by  the  Devils.      After 

Retzsch 421 

Studying  Black  Magic.      Widnian's  Jumst 426 

Conjuring  the  Devil.      Widman's  Faust 426 

Some  Pleasantries  of  Black  Magic.      Widman's  /■',iiis/  .      .     .  426 

Miracles  and  Conjurations.      Widman's  FausI 426 

Last  Hours  and  Death.      Widman's  Fans/ 427 

Wagner  Conjuring  the  Devil  Auerhan 428 

Auerhan's  Services 42S 

Wagner's  Jokes       ...      - 428 

Last  Hours  and  Death 428 

The  Devil  in  the  Puppet  Play  ....           429 

Witches  Celebrating  Walpurgis  Night.      By  Franz  Simm       .  431 
Der  Teuffel  lest  Keyn  Lantzknecht  mehr  inn  die  Helle  faren. 

Hans  Sachs 432 

Hell  According  to  Dionysius  Klein's  Tragico-Conicedia.      Re- 
produced from  Bastian's  Die  Denkschopfmig 433 

The  Devil  in  Modern  Satirical  Journals 436 

Hell  Up  To  Date.      By  permission  from  A.  Young's  Hell  Up 

To  Date 437 

Egyptian  Devil.      Post-classic  age 440 

Mahamaya,  the  Slayer  of  Mahisha.    From  Moor's  Hindu  Pan- 

tlicon 440 

The  Christian  View  of  the  Chained  Ruler  of  Hell.      Didron    .  441 

Persian  Devil.      Didron 442 

Turkish  Devil.      From  a  Turkish  MS 442 

Satan  Accusing  Job.      Fresco  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa      .  443 
Satan  in  His  Ugliness.    From  a  MS.  in  the  National  Library, 

Paris 444 


XVI  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

PAGE 

Satan  in   His  Ugliness.      From  an  Anglo-Saxon  MS.  in   the 

British  Museum 444 

The  Trinity  Fighting  Behemoth  and  Leviathan.  'After  Didron  445 
A  Trinit}^  of  the  Tenth  Century.      From   Miiller  and   Mathe's 

Archjeology 445 

Milton's  Satan.      After  Dor^ 451 

Lucifer  Before  the  Fall.      From  the  Hortus  Deliciarum       .      .  462 

The  Fallen  Lucifer.      After  Dord 463 

The  Feeling  of  Dependence.  After  Sasha  Schneider  .  .  .  470 
Time  as   a   Trinity  of   Past,    Present,    and   Future.      French 

miniature 472 

The  Divine  Trinity.      From  a   MS.    in   the    Bibhotheque   de 

Sainte  Genevieve 472 

Italian  Trinity.      Didron 473 

Satanic  Trinity.      Didron 473 

The  Trinity.     From  a  window  in  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame, 

at  Chalons,  France 474 

The  Trinity  of  Evil.    From  a  French  MS.  in  the  Bibliotheque 

Royale  at  Paris 474 

The  Three-Headed  Serapis.     From  Bartoli's  Lucerna  Vetcium 

Sepulchrates 475 

Aziel,  the  Guardian  of  Hidden  Treasures.      From  Francisci's 

Proteus  infernalis 475 

God  Supporting  the  World.      Fresco  in   the  Campo  Santo  of 

Pisa 476 

Hercules  with  Cerberus.  From  a  vase  found  in  Alta  mura  .  477 
St.  Anthony  Assaulted  by  Devils.   After  Schoengauer's  copper 

engraving,  1420-1499 479 

The  Good  Lord  and  the  Devil.      By  Franz  Simm     ....  480 

The  Devil  in  the  Campo  Santo  (Pisa) 485 

Seal  of  Satan.      Didron 486 


GOOD  AND  EVIL  AvS  RELIGIOUvS  IDEAS. 


T 


HIS  WORLD  OF  OURS  is  a  world  of  opposites. 
There  is  light  and  shade,  there  is  heat  and  cold, 
there  is  good  and  evil,  there  is  God  and  the  Devil. 

The  dualistic  conception  of  nature  has  been  a  neces- 
sary phase  in  the  evolution  of  human  thought.  We  find 
the  same  views  of  good  and  evil  spirits  prevailing  among 
all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  at  the  very  beginning  of  that 
stage  of  their  development  which,  in  the  phraseology  of 
T3'lor,  is  commonly  called  Animism.  But  the  principle 
of  unity  dominates  the  development  of  thought.  Man 
tries  to  unify  his  conceptions  in  a  consistent  and  harmo- 
nious Monism.  Accordingly,  while  the  belief  in  good 
spirits  tended  towards  the  formation  of  the  doctrine  of 
Monotheism,  the  belief  in  evil  spirits  led  naturally  to  the 
acceptance  of  a  single  supreme  evil  deity,  conceived  as 
embodying  all  that  is  bad,  destructive,  and  immoral. 

Monotheism  and  Monodiabolism,  both  originating 
simultaneously  in  the  monistic  tendencies  of  man's  men- 
tal evolution,  together  constitute  a  Dualism  which  to  many 
is  still  the  most  acceptable  world-conception.  Neverthe- 
less, it  is  not  the  final  goal  of  human  philosophy.     As 


2  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

soon  as  the  thinkers  of  mankind  become  aware  of  the 
Dualism  implied  in  this  interpretation  of  the  world,  the 
tendency  is  again  manifested  towards  a  higher  concep- 
tion, which  is  a  purely  monistic  view. 

Will  IMonism  eliminate  the  idea  of  the  Devil  in  order 
to  make  God  the  One  and  All?  Or  will  it  abolish  both 
God  and  the  Devil,  to  leave  room  only  for  a  world  of 
matter  in  motion?  Will  the  future  of  mankind  be,  as  M. 
Guyau  prophesies,  a  period  in  which  religion  will  dis- 
appear and  give  way  to  irreligion? 

Those  who  do  not  appreciate  the  mission  of  Dualism 
in  the  evolution  of  human  thought,  and  only  know  its 
doctrines  to  be  untenable,  naturally  expect  that  the  future 
of  mankind  will  be  irreligious,  and  there  are  freethinkers 
who  declare  that  Atheism  will  supersede  all  the  different 
conceptions  of  God.  But  this  is  not  probable.  The  mo- 
nistic tendencies  of  the  age  will  not  destroy,  but  purify 
and  elevate  religion.  The  Animism  of  the  savage  is  a 
necessary  stage  of  man's  mental  evolution :  it  appears  as 
an  error  to  the  higher-developed  man  of  a  half-civilised 
period ;  but  the  error  contains  a  truth  which  naturally 
develops  into  a  more  perfect  conception  of  the  surround- 
ing world.  Similarly,  the  religious  ideas  of  the  present 
time  are  symbols.  Taken  in  their  literal  meaning,  they 
are  untenable,  but  understood  in  their  sj-mbolical  nature 
they  are  seeds  from  which  a  purer  conception  of  the  truth 
will  grow.  The  tendencies  of  philosophic  thought  pre- 
vailing to-day  lead  to  a  positive  conception  of  the  world, 
which  replaces  symbols  by  statements  of  fact  and  brings 
with  it  not  a  denial  of  religious  allegories  but  a  deeper 
and  more  correct  conception. 


GOOD  AND  KVIL  AS  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS.  3 

A  State  of  irreligion  in  which  mankind  would  adopt 
and  publicly  teach  a  doctrine  of  Atheism  is  an  impossibil- 
ity. Atheism  is  a  neo^ation,  and  negations  cannot  stand, 
for  they  have  sense  only  as  confronted  with  the  positive 
issues  which  they  reject.  Yet  our  present  anthropomor- 
phic view  of  God,  briefly  called  Anthropotheism,  which 
as  a  rule  conceives  him  as  an  infinitely  big  individual 
being,  will  have  to  3'ield  to  a  higher  view  in  which  we 
shall  understand  that  the  idea  of  a  personal  God  is  a 
mere  simile.  God  is  much  more  than  a  person.  When 
we  speak  of  God  as  a  person,  we  ought  to  be  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  we  use  an  allegory  which,  if  it  were  taken 
literally,  can  only  belittle  him.  The  God  of  the  future 
will  not  be  personal,  but  superpersonal. 

But  how  shall  we  reach  this  knowledge  of  the  super- 
personal  God?  Our  answer  is,  with  the  help  of  science. 
Let  us  pursue  in  religion  the  same  path  that  science  trav- 
els, and  the  narrowness  of  sectarianism  will  develop  into 
a  broad  cosmical  religion  which  shall  be  as  wide  and  truly 
catholic  as  is  science  itself. 

Symbols  are  not  lies  ;  symbols  contain  truth.  Alle- 
gories and  parables  are  not  falsehoods ;  they  convey  in- 
formation :  moreover,  they  can  be  understood  by  those 
who  are  not  as  yet  prepared  to  receive  the  plain  truth. 
Thus,  when  in  the  progress  of  science  religious  symbols 
are  recognised  and  known  in  their  symbolical  nature,  this 
knowledge  will  not  destroy  religion  but  will  purify  it  and 
will  cleanse  it  from  mj^thology. 

We  define  God  as  ' '  that  authoritative  presence  in 
the  All,  which  enforces  a  definite  moral  conduct."  God 
is  that  something  which  constitutes  the  harmony  of  the 


4  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

laws  of  nature ;  God  is  the  intrinsic  necessity  of  matlie- 
matics  and  logic ;  God  above  all  is  what  experience 
teaches  us  to  be  the  inalienable  features  of  righteousness, 
justice,  morality.  This  presence  is  both  immanent  and 
transcendent :  it  is  immanent  as  the  constituent  charac- 
teristic of  the  law  that  pervades  the  universe ;  it  is  tran- 
scendent, for  it  is  the  condition  of  any  possible  cosmic 
order ;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  supercosmic  and  super- 
natural.* 

We  do  not  say  that  God  is  impersonal,  for  the  word 
"  impersonal  "  implies  the  absence  of  those  features  which 
constitute  personality ;  it  implies  vagueness,  indefinite- 
ness,  and  lack  of  character.  God,  however,  as  he  manifests 
himself  in  the  order  of  the  universe  is  verj-  definite.  He 
is  not  vague  but  possesses  quite  marked  qualities.  He  is 
such  as  he  is  and  not  different.  His  being  is  universal, 
but  not  indeterminable.  His  nature  does  not  consist  of 
indifferent  generalities,  but  exhibits  a  distinct  suchness. 
Indeed;  all  suchness  in  the  world,  in  phj^sical  nature  as 
well  as  in  the  domain  of  spirit,  depends  upon  God  as  here 
defined,  and  what  is  the  personality  of  man  but  the  incar- 
nation of  that  cosmic  logic  which  we  call  reason?  God, 
although  not  an  individual  being,  is  the  prototype  of  per- 
sonalit}^ ;  although  not  a  person,  thinking  thoughts  as  we 
do,  deliberating,  weighing  arguments,  and  coming  to  a  de- 
cision, he  is  yet  that  which  conditions  personality ;  he 
possesses  all  those  qualities  which,  when  reflected  in  ani- 
mated creatures,  adds  unto   their  souls   the  nobility  of 

*See  the  authors  Idea  of  Cod;  Soul  of  Mnn,  pp.  338  et  seq.;  Fundamental 
Problems,  p.  152  el  passim;  Primer  of  Philosophy,  p.  170  et  passim;  The  Monist, 
Vol.  III.,  pp.  357  et  seq.;   Homilies  of  Science,  pp.  79-120. 


GOOD  AND  EVIL  AS  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS.  5 

God's  image,  called  personality.  Therefore  we  say,  God 
is  not  impersonal,  but  superpersonal. 

While  the  idea  of  God  has  received  much  attention 
from  philosophers  and  progressive  theologians,  its  coun- 
terpart, the  dark  figure  of  the  Evil  One,  has  been  much 
neglected.  And  yet  the  Devil  is,  after  all,  a  very  inter- 
esting personality,  grotesque,  romantic,  humorous,  pa- 
thetic, nay,  even  grand  and  tragic.  And  if  we  have  to 
declare  that  the  idea  of  God  is  a  symbol  signif3ang  an 
actual  presence  in  the  world  of  facts,  should  we  not  ex- 
pect that  the  idea  of  the  Devil  also  represents  a  reality? 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  exhaust  the  subject,  for  it 
would  take  volumes  to  write  an  approximately  complete 
history  of  demonology.  Accordingly,  we  must  confine 
ourselves  to  merely  outlining  some  of  the  most  salient 
features  of  the  development  of  the  belief  in  the  Devil  and 
the  nature  of  the  idea  of  evil. 


DEVIL  WORSHIP. 


FROM  A  SURVEYAL  of  the  accounts  gleaned  from 
Waitz,  Lubbock,  and  Tylor,  on  the  primitive  state 
of  religion,  the  conviction  impresses  itself  upon  the  stu- 
dent of  demonology  that  Devil-worship  naturally  precedes 
the  worship  of  a  benign  and  morally  good  Deity.  There 
are  at  least  many  instances  in  which  we  can  observe  a 
transition  from  the  lower  stage  of  Devil-worship  to  the 
higher  stage  of  God-worship,  and  there  seems  to  be  no 
exception  to  the  rule  that  fear  is  always  the  first  incentive 
to  religious  worship.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  dark 
figure  of  the  Devil,  that  is  to  say,  of  a  powerful  evil  deity, 
looms  up  as  the  most  important  personage  in  the  remot- 
est past  of  almost  every  faith.  Demonolatry,  or  Devil- 
worship,  is  the  first  stage  in  the  evolution  of  religion,  for 
we  fear  the  bad,  not  the  good. 

Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  bases  religion  on  the  Unknown, 
declaring  that  the  savage  worships  those  powers  which  he 
does  not  understand.  In  order  to  give  to  religion  a  foun- 
dation which  even  the  scientist  does  not  dare  to  touch,  he 
asserts  the  existence  of  an  absolute  Unknowable,  and  rec- 
ommends it  as  the  basis  of  the  religion  of  the  future.   But 


DEVIL  WORSHIP.  7 

facts  do  not  agree  Mith  Mr.  Spencer's  proposition.     A 
German  proverb  says : 

"Was  ich  nicht  weiss 
Macht  mich  nicht  heiss." 

Or,  as  is  sometimes  said  in  English : 
"What  the  eyes  don't  see 
The  heart  doesn't  grieve  for." 

What  is  absolutely  unknowable  does  not  concern  us, 
and  the  savage  does  not  worship  the  thunder  because  he 
does  not  know  what  it  is,  but  because  he  knows  enough 
about  the  lightning  that  may  strike  his  hut  to  be  in  awe 
of  it.  He  worships  the  thunder  because  he  dreads  it ;  he 
is  afraid  of  it  on  account  of  its  known  and  obvious  dan- 
gers which  he  is  unable  to  control. 

Let  us  hear  the  men  who  have  carefully  collected  and 
sifted  the  facts.  Waitz,  in  speaking  in  his  Anthropologie 
(Vol.  III.,  pp.  182,  330,  335,  345)  of  the  Indians,  who 
were  not  as  yet  semi-Christianised,  states  that  the  Florida 
tribes  are  said  to  have  solemnly  worshipped  the  Bad 
Spirit,  Toia,  who  plagued  them  with  visions,  and  to  have 
had  small  regard  for  the  Good  Spirit,  who  troubled  him- 
self little  about  mankind.  And  Martins  makes  this  char- 
acteristic remark  of  the  rude  tribes  of  Brazil : 

"All  Indians  have  a  lively  conviction  of  the  power  of  an  evil 
principle  over  them  ;  in  many  there  dawns  also  a  glimpse  of  the 
good  ;  but  they  revere  the  one  less  than  they  fear  the  other.  It 
might  be  thought  that  they  hold  the  Good  Being  weaker  in  relation 
to  the  fate  of  man  than  the  Evil."* 

Capt.  John  Smith,  the  hero  of  the  colonisation  of 
Virginia,  in  1607,  describes  the  worship  of  Okee  (a  word 

*  Quoted  from  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture.  II.,  p.  325. 


8  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

which    apparently  means    that  which   is   above  our  con- 
trol) as  follows:* 

"  There  is  yet  in  Virginia  no  place  discouered  to  bee  so  Savage 
in  which  the  savages  haue  not  a  religion,  Deare,  and  Bow  and  Ar- 
rowes.  All  thinges  that  were  able  to  do  them  hurt  beyond  their  pre- 
vention they  adore  with  their  kinde  of  divine  worship  ;  as  the  fire, 
water,  lightning,  thunder,  our  ordinance  peeces,  horses,  &c.  But 
their  chiefe  God  they  worship  is  the  Diuell.  Him  they  call  Oke,'\ 
and  serue  him  more  of  feare  than  loue.  They  say  they  haue  con- 
ference with  him  and  fashion  themselues  as  neare  to  his  shape  as 
they  can  imagine.  In  their  Temples  they  haue  his  image  euill 
favouredly  carued  and  then  painted  and  adorned  with  chaines,  cop- 
per, and  beades,  and  couered  with  a  skin  in  such  manner  as  the 
deformity  may  well  suit  with  such  a  God."     (Original  ed.,  p.  29.) 

"  In  some  part  of  the  Country,  they  haue  yearely  a  sacrifice  of 
children.  Such  a  one  was  at  Quiyoughcohanock,  some  10  miles  from 
lames  Towne,  and  thus  performed. 

"Fifteene  of  the  properest  young  boyes,  betweene  10  and  15 
yeares  of  age,  they  painted  white.  Hauing  brought  them  forth,  the 
people  spent  the  forenoone  in  dancing  and  singing  about  them  with 
rattles. 

"In  the  afternoone,  they  put  those  children  to  the  roote  of 
a  tree.  By  them,  all  the  men  stood  in  a  guard,  every  one  hauing  a 
Bastinado  in  his  hand,  made  of  reeds  bound  together.  This  \these\ 
made  a  lane  betweene  them  all  along,  through  which  there  were 
appointed  5  young  men  to  fetch  these  children.  So  every  one  of 
the  fiue  went  through  the  guard,  to  fetch  a  child,  each  after  other 
by  turnes  :  the  guard  fearelessly  beating  them  with  their  Bastina- 
does, and  they  patiently  enduring  and  receauing  all  ;  defending 
the  children  with  their  naked  bodies  from  the  vnmercifull  blowes 
they  pay  them  soimdly,  though  the  children  escape.   All  this  while, 

*  "A  map  of  Virginia.  With  a  description  of  the  covntrey,  etc.,  written  by 
Captaine  Smith,  etc.     Oxford.     Printed  by  Joseph  Barnes.      1612." 

fin  the  little  dictionary  of  the  language  of  the  savages  of  Virginia  which  is 
printed  in  the  same  pamphlet,  Captain  Smith  translates  "Oke"  simply  by  "gods." 


DEVIL  WORSHIP.  y 

the  women  weepe  and  .crie  out  very  passionately  ;  prouiding  mats, 
skinnes,  mosse,  and  drie  wood,  as  things  fitting  their  childrens 
funerals. 

"After  the  children  were  thus  passed  the  guard,  the  guard  tore 
down  the  tree,  branches  and  boughs,  with  such  violence,  that  they 
rent  the  body  and  made  wreathes  for  their  heads,  or  bedecked  their 
haire  with  the  leaues.  What  else  was  done  with  the  children  was 
not  seene  ;  but  they  were  all  cast  on  a  heape  in  a  valley,  as  dead  '■ 
where  they  made  a  great  feast  for  al  the  company. 

"The  Werouiancc  [chief]  being  demanded  the  meaning  of  this 
sacrifice,  answered  that  the  children  were  not  all  dead,  but  [only] 
that  the  0/;e  or  Dive//  did  sucke  the  blood  from  their  left  breast  [of 
those],  who  chanced  to  be  his  by  lot,  till  they  were  dead.  But  the 
rest  were  kept  in  the  wildernesse  by  the  yong  men  till  nine  moneths 
were  expired,  during  which  time  they  must  not  conuerse  with  any: 
and  of  these,  were  made  their  Priests  and  Coniurers. 

"This  sacrifice  they  held  to  bee  so  necessarie,  that  if  they 
should  omit  it,  their  Oke  or  Divel  and  all  their  other  Quiri>iig!u-o- 
sttg/us  (which  are  their  other  Gods)  would  let  them  haue  no  Deare, 
Turkies,  Corne,  nor  fish  :  and  yet  besides,  hee  would  make  great 
slaughter  amongst  them. 

"To  divert  them  from  this  blind  idolatrie,  many  vsed  their 
best  indeauours,  chiefly  with  the  lVero7tiances  of  Quiyoug/ico/tanoc/i ; 
whose  devotion,  apprehension,  and  good  disposition  much  exceeded 
any  in  those  Countries  :  who  though  we  could  not  as  yet  preuaile 
withall  to  forsake  his  false  Gods,  yet  this  he  did  beleeue,  that  our 
God  as  much  exceeded  theirs,  as  our  Gunnes  did  their  Bowes  and 
Arrows  ;  and  many  times  did  send  to  the  President,  at  lames  towne, 
men  with  presents,  intreating  them  to  pray  to  his  God  for  raine, 
for  his  Gods  would  not  send  him  any. 

"And  in  this  lamentable  ignorance  doe  these  poore  soules  sac- 
rifice themselues  to  the  Diuell,  not  knowing  their  Creator."  (Orig- 
inal ed.,  pp.  32,  33,  34.)* 

*  See  The  Works  of  Capt.  John  Smith  of  Willoughby  etc.     Edited  by  Edward 
Arber.  Birmingham,  1884,  pp.  74  ff. 


10  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Similar  practices  prevailed  among  almost  all  tlie  In- 
dian tribes  who  inhabited  the  islands  and  the  two  conti- 
nents of  America  a  few  centuries  ago.  M.  Bernhard 
Picart's  illustration'^,  drawn  according  to  the  report  of 
Peter  Marty r,t  an  eye-witness,  proves  that  the  tribes  of 
Hispaniola,  now  commonly  called  Haiti,  paid  homage  to 
the  Supreme  Being  under  the  name  of  Jocanna,  and  their 
practices  show  that  they  were  devil-worshippers  of  the 
worst  kind.  Even  the  most  civilised  Americans,  the  Mex- 
icans, had  not  as  yet  outgrown  this  stage  of  religious  be- 
lief. It  is  true  that  the  idea  of  a  white  God  of  Love  and 
Peace  was  not  quite  foreign  to  them,  but  the  fear  of  the 
horrible  Huitzilopochtli  still  prompted  them  to  stain  the 
altars  of  his  temples  with  the  blood  of  human  victims. 

Human  sacrifices  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
Bible.  Thus  the  King  of  Moab,  when  pressed  hard  by 
the  children  of  Israel,  "took  his  eldest  son  that  should 
have  reigned  in  his  stead  and  offered  him  for  a  burnt- 
offering  upon  the  wall"  (2  Kings,  iv.  27) .  He  succeeded 
by  this  terrible  expedient  in  saving  the  city,  for  the  bib- 
lical report  continues:  "And  there  was  great  indignation 
against  Israel ;  and  they  [the  Israelites]  departed  from 
him  and  returned  to  their  own  land." 

The  prophets  were  constantly  preaching  against  the 
pagan  practice  of  those  Israelites  who,  in  imitation  of  the 
religion  of  their  neighbors,  sought  to  "  sacrifice  their  sons 
and  daughters  to  devils,"  or  let  them  "  pass  through  the 
fire  of  IMoloch  to  devour  them ' ' ;  but  so  near  to  the  reli- 

*  The  Religions  Cenmonies  and  Customs  of  the  Several  Nations  of  the  JCnowxt 
World.     Ill,,  p.  129, 

f  See  his  work,  De  rebus  oteanicis  et  novo  orbe. 


DEVIL  WORSHIP. 


11 


Demonolatrous  Ceremonies  of  the  Old  Inhabitants  of  Haiti.     (After  Picart.) 


12 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


gioiis  conception  of  the  savage  was  even  the  purer  faith 
of  Israel  that  Jephtha  still  believed  that  God  required 
of  him  "to  offer  his  daughter  up  as  a  burnt  offering." 
(Judges,  xi.  29-40) . 

The  most  civilised  nations  on  earth  still  preserve  in 
their  ancient  legends  traces  of  having  at  an  early  period 

of  their  religious  develop- 
ment immolated  human 
beings  in  propitiation  of 
angry  deities.  When  the 
glory  of  Athens  was  at 
its  climax,  Euripides  dra- 
matically represented  the 
tragic  fate  of  Polyxena 
who  was  sacrificed  on  the 
tomb  of  Achilles  in  order 
to  pacify  the  dead  hero's 
spirit  and  thereby  ensure 
the  safe  return  of  the 
Greek  army. 

Progress  in  civilisa- 
tion led  to  a  modification 
but  not  to  a  direct  aboli- 
tion of  human  sacrifices.  We  find  among  more  advanced 
savages,  and  even  at  the  dawn  of  a  higher  civilisation,  a 
practice  whereby  the  victim,  be  it  a  child,  a  virgin,  or  a 
youth  is  offered  up  without  slaughtering,  and  has  a  chance 
either  to  escape  by  good  luck  or  to  be  rescued  by  some 
daring  deed.  Traces  of  this  conception  are  found  in  the 
tales  of  Perseus  and  Andromeda,  of  Palnatoke  the  marks- 
man,  who,   like   William  Tell,  shot  an  apple  from  his 


Human  Sacrifice  Among  the  Greeks. 
[Polyxena  dies  by  the  hand  of  Neopto- 
lemus  on  the  tomb  of  Achilles, — Afttr  an 
ancient  cavieo  in  Berlin.^ 


DEVIL  WORSHIP. 


13 


child's  head,  of  Susano,  in  Japanese  folk-lore,  who  slew 
the  eight-headed  serpent  that  annually  devoured  one  of 
the  daughters  of  a  poor  peasant,  and  similar  ancient  le- 
gends. At  the  same  time  human  victims  were  supplanted 
by  animals,  as  is  indicated  by  various  religious  legends. 
Thus  a  hind  was  substituted  for  Iphigenia  and  a  ram  for 
Isaac. 

Human  sacrifices 
are  one  of  the  principal 
characteristic  traits  of 
Devil-worship,  but  not 
the  only  one.  There 
are  in  addition  other 
devilish  practices  which 
are  based  on  the  idea 
that  the  Deity  takes  de- 
light in  witnessing  tor- 
tures, and  the  height  of 
abomination  is  reached 

in    cannibalism,   which,  [Agamemnon,  her  father,  veils  his  head. 

while  Diomedes  and  Odysseus  deliver  the  vir- 

aS  anthropology  teaches       gin  over  to  Kalchas,  the  priest      Artemis  ap- 

,      1  ,  pears  in  the  clouds  and  a  nymph   brings  the 

us,  IS  not  due  to  scar-     {;.  ,      ,.,       r,    ^       /     ,i 

'  hind. — After  a  Fompeian  Jresco.\ 

city    of   food,    but    can 

always  be  traced  back  to  some  religious  superstition, 
especially  to  the  notion  that  he  who  partakes  of  the  heart 
or  brain  of  his  adversary  acquires  the  courage,  strength, 
and  other  virtues  of  the  slain  man. 

The  last  remnants  of  the  idea  that  the  Vv  rath  of  the 
Deity  must  be  appeased  by  blood,  and  that  we  acquire  spir- 
itual powers  by  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood 
of  the  victim  still  linger  with  us  to-day  in  the  mediaeval 


A  Hind  Substituted  for  Iphigenia. 


14  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

interpretations  of  certain  church  dogmas,  and  will  only 
disappear  before  the  searching  light  of  a  fearless  and  con- 
sistent religious  reformation.  We  must  remember,  how- 
ever, that  certain  superstitions,  at  early  stages  of  the  reli- 
gious development  of  mankind,  are  as  unavoidable  as  the 
-various  errors  which  science  and  philosophy  pass  through 
in  their  natural  evohition. 

Religion  always  begins  with  fear,  and  the  religion  of 
savages  may  directly  be  defined  as  "the  fear  of  evil  and 
the  various  efforts  made  to  escape  evil."  Though  the  fear 
of  evil  in  the  religions  of  civilised  nations  plays  no  longer 
so  prominent  a  part,  we  yet  learn  through  historical  in- 
vestigations that  at  an  early  stage  of  their  development 
almost  all  worship  was  paid  to  the  powers  of  evil,  who 
were  regarded  with  special  awe  and  reverence. 

Actual  Devil-worship  continues  until  the  positive 
power  of  good  is  recognised  and  man  finds  out  b}'  experi- 
ence that  the  good,  although  its  progress  may  be  ever  so 
slow,  is  always  victorious  in  the  end.  It  is  natural  that 
the  power  that  makes  for  righteousness  is  by  and  by  rec- 
ognised as  the  supreme  ruler  of  all  powers,  and  then  the 
power  of  evil  ceases  to  be  an  object  of  awe  ;  it  is  no  longer 
worshipped  and  not  even  propitiated,  but  struggled  against, 
and  the  confidence  prevails  of  a  final  victory  of  justice, 
right,  and  truth. 


ANCIENT  EGYPT. 


SET,  OR  SETH,  whom  the  Greeks  called  Typhon, 
the  nefarious  demon  of  death  and  evil  in  Egyptian 
/inythology,  is  characterised  as  "  a  strong  god  (a-pahuti) , 
whose  anger  is  to  be  feared."  The  inscriptions  call  him 
rMe  =pbwerful  one  of  Thebes,"  and  "  Ruler  of  the 
South."  He  is  conceived  as  the  sun  that  kills  with  the 
arrows  of  heat ;  he  is  the  slayer,  and  iron  is  called  the 
bones  of  Typhon.  The  hunted  animals  are  consecrated 
to  him ;  and  his  symbols  are  the  griffin  (akhekh) ,  the 
hippopotamus,  the  crocodile,  the  swine,  the  tortoise,  and, 
above  all,  the  serpent  apapi  (in  Greek  "apophis"),  who 
was  thought  to  await  the  dying  man  in  the  domain  of  the 
god  Atmu  (also  called  Tmu  or  Turn) ,  who  represents  the 
sun  below  the  western  horizon. 

Set's  pictures  are  easily  recognised  by  his  long,  erect, 
and  square-tipped  ears  and  his  proboscis-like  snout,  which 
are  said  to  indicate  the  head  of  a  fabulous  animal  called 
Oryx.  The  consort  and  feminine  counterpart  of  Set  is 
called  Taour  or  Taourt.  The  Greeks  called  her  Theouris. 
She  appears  commonly  as  a  hippopotamus  in  erect  pos- 
ture, her  back  covered  with  the  skin  and  tail  of  a  crocodile. 


16 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Apapi  (Apophis)  and  Atmu.     (After  Rawlinson.) 


Forms  of  Taocrt.     (After  Rawlinson.) 


Set.  ( After  Brugsch.) 


ga.ijri  m<  I  i:^fc  »■*"'■  ■"' 


The  Soul  Visiting  the  Mummy.     See  page  2.).      (From  the  Ani  Papyrus.) 


ANCIENT  EGYPT.  17 

Set  is  often  contrasted  with  Osiris.  Set  was  the  deity 
of  the  desert,  of  drought  and  feverish  thirst,  and  of  the 
sterile  ocean;  Osiris  represents  moisture,  the  Nile,  the 
fertilising  powers  and  life.     Plutarch  sa3's  : 

"The  moon  (^representing  Osiris)  is,  with  his  fertilising  and 
fecundative  hght,  favorable  to  the  produce  of  animals  and  growth 
of  plants  ;  the  sun,  however  (  representing  Typhon),  is  determined, 
with  its  unmitigated  fire,  to  overheat  and  parch  animals  ;  it  ren- 
ders by  its  blaze  a  great  part  of  the  earth  uninhabitable  and  con- 
quers frequently  even  the  moon  iviz.,  Osiris  )." 

As  an  enemy  to  life.  Set  is  identified  with  all  destruc- 
tion. He  is  the  waning  of  the  moon,  the  decrease  of  the 
waters  of  the  Nile,  and  the  setting  of  the  sun.  Thus  he 
was  called  the  left  or  black  eye  of  the  decreasing  sun, 
governing  the  3'ear  from  the  summer  solstice  to  the  win- 
ter solstice,  which  is  contrasted  with  the  right  or  bright 
eye  of  Hor,  the  increasing  sun,  which  symbolises  the 
growth  of  life  and  the  spread  of  light  from  the  winter  sol- 
stice to  the  summer  solstice. 

Set  was  not  always  nor  to  all  Egyptians  alike  a  Sa- 
tanic deity.  He  was  officially  worshipped  in  an  unim- 
portant province  west  of  the  Nile,  but  this  was  the  natu- 
ral starting-point  of  the  road  to  the  northern  oasis.  The 
inhabitants,  who  were  mostly  guides  to  desert  caravans, 
had  good  reasons  to  remain  on  friendlj'  terms  with  Set, 
the  Lord  of  the  desert. 

Further,  we  know  that  a  great  temple  was  devoted 
to  Set,  as  the  god  of  war,  in  Tanis,  near  the  swamps  be- 
tween the  eastern  branches  of  the  Delta,  an  important 
town  of  the  frontier,  and  during  the  time  of  invasion  the 
probable  seat  of  the  foreign  dominion  of  the  Hyksos  and 


IS 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  Hyttites,  who  identified  their  own  god  Sutech  with 
the  Egyptian  Set.  But  even  among  the  Hyksos,  Set  was 
revered  as  the  awful  God  of  irresistible  power,  of  brute 
force,  of  war,  and  of  destruction. 

There  is  an  old  wall-picture  of  Karnak,  belonging  to 
the  era  of  the  eighteenth  dynast}-,  in  which  the  god  Set 
appears  as  an  instructor  of  King  Thothmes  III.  in  the 
science  of  archery.'^ 


Seth  Teaching  the  King  the  Art  of  War.      (After  Erman.) 

Sety  I.,  the  second  king  of  the  nineteenth  d3'nast3', 
the  shepherd  kings,  derives  his  name  from  the  god  Set — 
a  sign  of  the  high  honor  in  which  he  was  held  among  the 
shepherd  kings ;  and  indeed  we  are  informed  that  thc}^ 
regarded  Set,  or  Sutech,  as  the  only  true  God,  the  sole 
deity,  who  alone  was  worthy  of  receiving  divine  honors. 

If  the  time  of  the  shepherd  kings  is  to  be  identified 
with  the  settlement  of  Jacob's  sons  in  Egypt,  and  if  the 

*See  Lepsius,  Deiiii/ui/er,  Vol.  V.,  p.  36.    The  pcture  is  reproduced  in  outline 
by  Adolf  Erman  in  his  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  Engl,  trans.,  p.  282. 


ANCIENT  EGYPT.  19 

monotlieism  of  the  Hyksos  is  the  root  of  Moses's  religion, 
what  food  for  thought  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  same  awe 
of  a  fearful  power  that  confronts  us  in  life,  changes  among 
the  Eg3'ptians  into  the  demonology  of  Set,  and  among 
the  Israelites  into  the  cult  of  Yahveh ! 

In  spite  of  the  ten-or  which  he  inspired,  Set  was 
originally  not  mereh'  an  evil  demon  but  one  of  the  great 
deities,  who,  as  such,  was  feared  and  propitiated. 

Says  Heinrich  Brugsch  (Religion  und  Myllinlogie 
dcr  alien  Acgypter^  p.  706)  : 

"The  Book  of  the  Dead  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  the 
numerous  inscriptions  of  the  recently  opened  pyramids  are,  indeed, 
nothing  but  talismans  against  the  imagined  Seth  and  his  associates. 
Such  is  also,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  the  greater  part  of  the  ancient  lit- 
erature that  has  come  down  to  us." 

When  a  man  dies,  he  passes  the  western  horizon  and 
descends  through  Atmu's  abode  into  Amenti,  the  Nether 
World.  The  salvation  of  his  personality  depends,  accord- 
ing to  Egyptian  belief,  upon  the  preservation  of  his 
"double,"  or  his  "other  self,"  which,  remaining  in  the 
tomb,  resides  in  the  mummy  or  in  an}-  statue  of  his  body. 

The  double,  just  as  if  it  were  alive,  is  supposed  to 
be  in  need  of  food  and  drink,  which  is  provided  for  by  in- 
cantations. Magic  formulas  satisfy  the  hunger  and  thirst 
of  the  double  in  the  tomb,  and  frustrate,  through  invoca- 
tions of  the  good  deities,  all  the  evil  intentions  of  Set  and 
his  host.  We  read  in  an  inscription  of  Edfu  (Brugsch, 
Religion  und  Myihologie  der  alien  Aegjp/er,  p.  707)  : 


20  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Hail  Ra,  thou  art  radiant  in  thy  radiance, 
While  there  is  darkness  in  the  eyes  of  Apophis  1 
Hail  Ra,  good  is  thy  goodness. 
While  Apophis  is  bad  in  its  badness  !" 

The  dread  of  hunger,  thirst,  and  other  ills,  or  even 
of  destruction  which  their  double  might  suffer  in  the 
tomb,  was  a  perpetual  source  of  fearful  anticipations  to 
every  pious  Egyptian.  The  anxiety  to  escape  the  tor- 
tures of  their  future  state  led  to  the  embalming  of  the 
dead  and  to  the  building  of  the  pyramids.  Yet,  in  spite 
of  all  superstitions  and  the  ridiculous  pomp  bestowed 
upon  the  burial  of  the  body  we  find  passages  in  the  in- 
scriptions which  give  evidence  that  in  the  opinion  of 
many  thoughtful  people  the  best  and  indeed  the  sole 
means  of  protection  against  the  typhonic  influences  after 
death  was  a  life  of  righteousness.  This  is  forcibly  ex- 
pressed in  the  illustration  of  Chapter  CXXV.  of  the  Book 
of  the  Dead,  which  is  here  reproduced  according  to  Lep- 
sius's  edition  of  the  Turin  papyrus.  (Republished  by 
Putnam,  Book  oj  the  Dead). 

The  picture  of  the  Hall  of  Truth  as  preserved  in  the 
Turin  papyrus  shows  Osiris  with  the  atef-crown  on  his 
head  and  the  crook  and  whip  in  his  hands.  Above  the 
beast  of  Amenti  we  see  the  two  genii  Shai  and  Ranen, 
which  represent  Misery  and  Happiness.  The  four  funeral 
genii,  called  Amset,  Hapi,  Tuamutef,  and  Kebhsnauf, 
hover  over  an  altar  richly  laden  with  offerings.  The 
frieze  shows  twelve  groups  of  uraeus  snakes,  flames  and 
feathers  of  truth ;  on  both  sides  scales  are  poised  by  a 
baboon  who  is  the  sacred  animal  of  Thoth,  and  in  the 
middle  Atmu  stretches  out  his  hands  over  the  right  and 


ANCIENT  EGYPT. 


21 


K-Q  S 


3 


3 
T3 
O 


11  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

left  eye,  symbolising  sunset  and  sunrise,  death  and  resur- 
rection. 

Ma,*  tlie  goddess  of  truth  and  "the  directress  of  the 
gods,"  decorated  with  an  erect  feather  which  is  her  em- 
blem, ushers  the  departed  one  into  the  Hall  of  Truth. 
Kneeling,  the  departed  one  invokes  the  forty-two  asses- 
sors b\'  name  and  disclaims  ha\ing  committed  any  one  of 
the  forty-two  sins  of  the  Egyptian  moral  code.  Omitting 
the  names  of  the  assessors,  we  quote  here  an  extract  of 
the  confession.     The  departed  one  says : 

"I  did  not  do  evil. — I  did  not  commit  violence. — I  did  not 
torment  any  heart. — I  did  not  steal.  I  did  not  cause  any  one  to 
be  treacherously  killed. — I  did  not  lessen  the  offerings. — I  did  not 
do  any  harm. — I  did  not  utter  a  lie. — I  did  not  make  any  one  weep. 
— I  did  not  commit  acts  of  self-pollution. — I  did  not  fornicate. — I 
did  not  trespass. — I  did  not  commit  any  perfidy. — I  did  no  damage 
to  cultivated  land. — I  was  no  accuser. — I  was  never  angry  without 
sufficient  reason.  —  I  did  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  words  of  truth. 
I  did  not  commit  witchcraft. — I  did  not  blaspheme. — I  did  not 
cause  a  slave  to  be  maltreated  by  his  master. — I  did  not  despise 
God  in  my  heart." 

Then  the  departed  one  places  his  heart  on  the  bal- 
ance of  truth,  where  it  is  weighed  by  the  hawk-headed 
Hor  and  the  jackal-headed  Anubis,  "the  director  of  the 
w-eight,"  the  Aveight  being  shaped  in  the  figure  of  the 
goddess  of  truth.  Thoth,  the  ibis-headed  scribe  of  the 
gods,  reads  Hor's  report  to  Osiris,  and  if  it  announces 
that  the  weight  of  the  heart  is  ecjual  to  truth,  Thoth  or- 
ders it  to  be  placed  back  into  the  breast  of  the  departed 

*Also  called  MaS't,  or  "  ilie  Ivvo  truths,"  i.  e.,  of  the  upper  and  of   the  nether 
world. 


ANCIENT  EGYPT.  li 

one,  wliicli  act  indicates  his  return  to  life.  If  the  departed 
one  escapes  all  the  dangers  that  await  him  in  his  descent 
to  Amenti,  and  if  the  weight  of  his  heart  is  not  found 
wanting,  he  is  allowed  to  enter  into  "the  boat  of  the 
sun,"  in  which  he  is  conducted  to  the  Elysian  fields  of 
the  blessed. 

Should  the  evil  deeds  of  the  departed  one  outweigh 
his  good  deeds,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  devoured  by  Anie- 
mit  (i.  e.,  the  devourer) ,  which  is  also  called  "the  beast 
of  Amenti,"  or  was  sent  back  to  the  upper  world  in  the 
shape  of  a  pig. 

While  the  double  stag's  in  the  tomb,  the  soiil,  repre- 
sented as  a  bird  with  a  human  head,  soars  to  hea\-en  where 
it  becomes  one  with  all  the  great  gods.  The  liberated 
soul  exclaims  (Erman,  /'/;.,  p.  343  et  secj.)  : 

"I  am  the  god  Atum,  I  who  was  alone, 

"I  am  the  god  Ra  at  his  first  appearing, 

"I  am  the  great  god  who  created  himself,  and  created  his 
name  'Lord  of  the  gods,  who  has  not  his  equal.' 

"I  was  yesterday,  and  I  know  the  to-morrow.  Ttie  battlefield 
of  the  gods  Avas  made  when  I  spoke. 

"I  come  into  my  home,  I  come  into  m}'  native  city. 

"I  commune  daily  with  my  father  Atum. 

"My  impurities  are  driven  out,  and  the  sin  that  was  in  me  is 
conquered. 

"Ye  gods  above,  reach  out  j'our  hands,  I  am  like  }ou,  I  have 
become  one  of  you. 

"I  commune  daily  with  m}-  father  Atum." 

Having  become  one  with  the  gods,  the  departed  sov:l 
suffers  the  same'  fate  as  Osiris.  Like  him,  it  is  slain  b}- 
Set,  and  like  Osiris,  it  is  reborn  in  Hor  who  revenges  the 
death  of  his  father.     At  the  same  time  the  soul  is  sup- 


24  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

posed  frequently  to  visit  the  double  of  the  departed  man 
in  the  tomb,  as  depicted  in  the  tomb  of  the  scribe  Ani. 

The  Abode  of  Bliss  (in  Egj^ptian  Sechnit  aanru,  also 
written  aakhi),  as  depicted  in  the  Turin  papyrus  of  the 
Book  of  the  Dead,  shows  us  the  departed  one  with  his 
family,  and  Thoth,  the  scribe  of  the  gods,  behind  them, 
in  the  act  of  sacrificing  to  three  gods,  the  latter  being  de- 
corated with  the  feather  of  truth.  He  then  crosses  the 
water.  On  the  other  side,  he  offers  a  perfuming  pan  to 
his  soul  which  appears  in  the  shape  of  a  man-headed  bird. 
There  are  also  the  three  mummy-form  gods  of  the  hori- 
zon, with  an  altar  of  offerings  before  the  hawk,  symbolis- 
ing Ra,  "the  master  of  heaven."  In  the  middle  part 
of  the  picture  the  departed  one  ploughs,  sows,  reaps, 
threshes,  stores  up  the  harvest,  and  celebrates  a  thanks- 
giving with  offerings  to  the  Nile.  The  lower  part  shows 
two  barks,  one  for  Ra  Harmakhis,  the  other  one  for  Une- 
fru  ;  and  the  three  islands :  the  first  is  inhabited  by  Ra, 
the  second  is  called  the  regenerating  place  of  the  gods, 
the  third  is  the  residence  of  Shu,  Tefnut,  and  Seb. 

A  very  instructive  illustration  of  Egyptian  belief  is 
afforded  us  in  the  well-preserved  tomb  of  Rekhmara,  the 
prefect  of  Thebes  under  Thothmes  III.  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty,  the  inscriptions  of  which  have  been  translated 
into  French  b}'  Ph.  Virey  and  were  published  in  1889  by 
the  Mission  Archcologique  Fraiifaise. 

The  visitor  to  the  tomb  enters  through  a  door  on  the 
eastern  end ;  when  proceeding  westward,  we  see  Rekh- 
mara on  the  left  wall  pass  from  life  to  death.  Here  he 
attends  to  the  affairs  of  the  government,  there  he  receives 
in  the  name  of  Pharaoh  the  homage  of  foreign  princes ; 


ANCIENT  EGYPT. 


25 


3 


m 


26  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

further  on  he  organises  the  work  of  building  magazines 
at  Thebes.  He  superintends  the  artists  engaged  at  the 
Temple  of  Ammon  and  is  then  buried  in  pomp.  At  last 
he  assumes  the  appearance  of  the  Osiris  of  the  West  and 
receives  sacrifices  in  his  capacity  as  a  god.  We  are  now 
confronted  with  a  blind  door  through  which  Rekhmara- 
Osiris  descends  into  the  West  and  returns  to  life  toward 
the  East  as  the  Osiris  of  the  East.  Through  funeral  sac- 
rifices and  incantations  his  double  is  again  invested  with 
the  use  of  the  various  senses ;  he  is  honored  at  a  festival 
and  graciously  received  by  Pharaoh ;  in  a  word,  he  acts  as 
he  did  in  life.  When  we  return  to  the  entrance  where  we 
started,  Rekhmara  receives  the  offerings  of  his  family  and 
inspects  the  progress  of  the  works  to  which  he  attended 
in  life. 

In  the  tomb  of  Rekhmara,  Set  receives  offerings  like 
other  great  gods.  The  departed  one  is  called  the  inher- 
itor of  ^et  (Suti) ,  and  is  purified  by  both  Hor  and  Set. 
As  an  impersonation  of  Osiris,  the  departed  one  is  ap- 
proached and  slain  by  Set,  who  then  is  vanquished  in  the 
shape  of  sacrificial  animals  which  are  slaughtered.  But 
when  the  departed  one  is  restored  to  the  use  of  his  senses 
and  mental  powers,  Set  again  plays  an  important  part, 
and  appears  throughout  as  one  of  the  four  points  of  the 
compass,  which  are  "  Hor,  Set,  Tlioth,  and  Seb."  * 

According  to  the  original  legend.  Set  represented  the 
death  of  the  sun,  and  as  a  personality'  he  is  described  as 
the  murderer  of  Osiris,  who  was  finally  reconciled  with 
Hor.  He  remained,  however,  a  powerful  god,  and  had 
important  functions  to  perform  for  the  souls  of  the  dead. 

* Le  Tombeaii  dc  Rakl.inara,  b)  Ph.  Virey.     Paiis;  Le  Roux.      1SS9. 


ANCIKNT  EGYPT.  21 

Above  all,  he  must  bind  and  conquer  tbe  serpent  Apophis 
(Apap),  as  we  read  in  the  Jhwk  of  the  Dead  (108,  4 
and  5) : 

"  They  use  Set  to  circumvent  it  [the  serpent];  they  use  him 
to  throw  an  iron  chain  around  its  neck,  to  make  it  vomit  all  that  it 
has  swallowed." 

In  the  measure  that  the  allegorical  meaning  of  the 
Osiris  legend  is  obliterated,  and  that  Osiris  is  conceived 
as  a  real  person  who  as  the  representative  of  moral  good- 
ness, succumbs  in  his  struggle  with  evil  and  dies,  but  is 
resurrected  in  his  son  Hor,  Set  is  more  and  more  de- 
prived of  his  divinity  and  begins  to  be  regarded  as  an 
evil  demon. 

The  reign  of  Men-Kau-Ra,  the  builder  of  the  third 
pyramid  of  Gizeh  (according  to  Brugsch,  3633  B.  C,  and 
according  to  Mariette,  4100  B.  C),  must  have  changed 
the  character  of  the  old  Egyptian  religion.  "  The  prayer 
to  Osiris  on  his  coffin  lid,"  says  Rawlinson  (Vol.  II.,  p. 
67) ,  "  marks  a  new  religious  development  in  the  annals 
of  Egypt.  The  absorption  of  the  justified  soul  in  Osiris, 
the  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  Ritual  of  the  Dead,  makes  its 
appearance  here  for  the  first  time." 

According  to  the  older  canon  Set  is  always  men- 
tioned among  the  great  deities,  but  later  on  he  is  no 
longer  recognised  as  a  god,  and  his  name  is  replaced  by 
that  of  some  other  god.  The  Egyptians  of  the  twenty- 
second  dynasty  went  so  far  as  to  erase  Set's  name  from 
many  of  the  older  inscriptions  and  even  to  change  the 
names  of  former  kings  that  were  compounds  of  Set,  such 
as  Set-nekht  and  others.  The  crocodile-headed  Ceb  (also 
called  Seb  or  Keb)  and  similar  deities,  in  so  far  as  their 


28  THK  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

nature  was  suggestive  of  Set,  suffered  a  similar  degrada- 
tion; and  this,  we  must  assume,  was  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  an  increased  confidence  in  the  final  victory  of 
the  influence  of  the  gods  of  goodness  and  virtue. 

Plutarch,  speaking  of  his  own  days,  says  {On  Is:s  and 
Osiris,  Chapter  XXX.)  that: 

"The  power  of  Typhon,  although  dimmed  and  crushed,  is  still 
in  its  last  agonies  and  convulsions.  The  Egj'ptians  occasionally 
humiliate  and  insult  him  at  certain  festivals.  They  nevertheless 
propitiate  and  soothe  him  by  means  of  certain  sacrifices." 

Set,  the  great  and  strong  god  of  prehistoric  times, 
was  converted  into  Satan  with  the  rise  of  the  worship  of 
Osiris.  Set  was  strong  enough  to  slay  Osiris,  as  night 
overcomes  the  light  of  the  sun ;  but  the  sun  is  born  again 
in  the  child-god  Hor,  who  conquers  Set  and  forces  him  to 
make  the  old  serpent  of  death  surrender  its  spoil.  As  the 
sun  sets  to  rise  again,  so  man  dies  to  be  reborn.  The 
evil  power  is  full  of  awe,  but  a  righteous  cause  cannot  be 
crushed,  and,  in  spite  of  death,  life  is  immortal. 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES. 


ABOUT  THE  YEAR  3000  B.  C,  long  before  the 
rise  of  the  Semitic  nations,  among  whom  the  Baby- 
lonians, Assyrians,  Israelites,  and  later  the  Arabians, 
were  most  prominent,  there  lived  in  Mesopotamia  a  na- 
tion of  great  power  and  importance,  which  is  known  by 
the  name  of  Accad.  And,  strange  to  sa}^  the  Accadians 
were  not  a  white,  but  a  dark  race.  They  are  spoken  of 
as  ' '  blackheads  "  or  "  blackfaces ' ' ;  yet  we  need  not  for 
that  reason  assume  that  they  were  actually  as  black  as 
the  Ethiopians,  for  the  bilingual  tablets  found  in  the 
mounds  of  Babylonia  speak  also  of  them  as  Adaniaiic"^'  or 
red-skins,  which  makes  it  probable  that  they  were  reddish- 
dark  or  brown.  How  much  the  Semites  owe  to  the  Ac- 
cadians, whose  dominion  ceased  about  1500  B.  C,  and 
whose  language  began  to  die  out  under  the  reign  of  the 
Assyrian  king  Sargon  (722-705) ,  we  may  infer  from  the 
fact  that  many  religious  institutions,  legends,  and  cus- 
toms among  the  Semites  were  of  Accadian  origin. 

*A  popular  etymology  connected  this  word  Adnmn/ti  -viiXh  Adamu  or  Adniu, 
"  man,"  which  later,  as  Rawlinson  pointed  out,  reappears  in  the  Bible  as  the 
name  of  the  first  man.  See  The  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  by  George  Smith, 
p.  83. 


30  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Thus  we  know  for  certain  that  in  their  mode  of  de- 
termining the  time  they  already  possessed  the  institution 
of  a  week  of  seven  days,  and  that  the  Sabbath  was  their 
holy  day  of  rest.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  original  Ac- 
cadian  word  is  explained  as  "  a  da}'  on  which  work  is  un- 
lawful," and  the  Assj^rian  translation  Sabattu  signifies 
"a  day  of  rest  for  the  heart."  Further,  the  legends  of 
creation,  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  of  the  deluge,  mentioned 
in  Genesis  and  also  in  Assyrian  records,  were  well  known 
to  the  Accadians,  and  from  the  conventional  form  of  the 
tree  of  life,  which  in  the  most  ancient  pictures  bears  fir- 
cones, we  may  infer  that  the  idea  is  an  old  tradition  which 
the  Accadians  brought  with  them  from  their  former  and 
colder  home  in  the  fir-covered  mountains  of  Media.  In 
addition  we  have  reminiscences  of  Accadian  traditions  in 
many  Hebrew  names,  which  proves  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  the  long-lasting  influence  of  the  ancient  civili- 
sation of  Accad.  The  rivers  of  paradise,  mentioned  in 
Genesis,  are  Babylonian  names.  Thus,  the  Euphrates, 
or  Purat,  is  the  curving  water ;  Tigris  is  Tiggur^  the  cur- 
rent ;  Hid-Dekhel,  "  the  river  with  the  high  bank,"  is  an- 
other name  for  the  Tigris,  which  in  inscriptions  is  called 
Idikla  or  Idiktia;  Gihon  has  been  identified  by  some  As- 
syriologists  with  Arakhtii  (Araxes) ,  and  by  Sir  H.  Raw- 
linson  with  Jukha;  and  King  Sargon  calls  Elam  "the 
country  of  the  four  rivers." 

The  names  of  the  rivers  of  Eden  indicate  that  the 
people  with  whom  the  legend  of  paradise  originated  must 
have  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris. 
Under  these  circumstances  we  are  surprised  to  find  that 
the  cultivated   portion  of  the  desert  lands  west    of  the 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES.  31 

Euphrates  was  called  Edhnia*  a  name  that  sounds  very 
much  like  Eden. 

About  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  a  Babylon- 
ian priest  by  the  name  of  Berosus  wrote  an  interesting 
book  on  the  history  and  religion  of  Babylon.  It  is  now 
lost,  but  as  various  Greek  authors,  Alexander  Polyhistor, 
Apollodorus,  Abydenus,  Damascius,t  and  Eusebius  have 
largely  quoted  from  his  reports,  we  know  quite  a  good 
deal  about  the  information  he  gave  to  the  world  concern- 
ing his  country. 

All  this  was  very  interesting,  but  there  was  no  evi- 
dence of  the  reliability  of  Berosus's  records.  The  Baby- 
lonian legends  might  have  been  derived  from  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. However,  since  the  successful  excavations  of  the 
Assyrian  stone-libraries  we  have  the  most  positive  evi- 
dences as  to  the  source  and  the  great  age  of  these  tradi- 
tions. A  great  part  of  them  have  come  down  to  us  from 
the  old  Accadians. 

We  know  that  the  Babylonians  posses.sed  several 
legends  which  have  been  received  into  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, the  most  striking  ones  being  the  legend  of  the  del- 
uge, of  the  tower  of  Babel,  of  the  destruction  of  corrupt 
cities  by  a  rain  of  fire  (reminding  us  of  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah) ,  of  the  babyhood  adventures  of  King  Sargon  I. 
(reminding  us  of  Moses) ,  and  of  the  creation  of  the  world. 
The  name  of  Babel,  which  is  in  Assyrian  bab-ilani^  or  bab- 
ihi^  i.  e.  the  Gate  of  God,  is  a  Semitic  translation  of  the 
Accadian  Ka-dingirra-kii  with  the  same  meaning ;  liter- 

*  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  believes  that  Gan  Eden  or  the  Garden  of  Eden  is  Gan- 
Duniyas  (also  called  Gan-Duni),  meaning  ■■  enclosure,"  which  is  a  name  of  Baby- 
lonia in  Assyrian  inscriptions. 

f  See  Co':y's  Ancidnl  Fragments,  pp.  51-56. 


32 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


ally:  "  Gate  +  of  God  +  the  place."  The  etymology  of 
the  name  Babel  from  balbel^  "to  confound,"  which  is 
suggested  both  in  the  Assyrian  account  of  the  story  and 
in  Genesis,  is  one  of  those  popular  etymologic  errors 
which  are  frequently  found  in  ancient  authors. 

In   the  legend  of  the  destruction  of  the  cities  there 
occur  several  names  which  indicate  an  Accadian  source. 

The  legend  of  the  deluge* 


■";\|:i  ,  "i^m-^'i 


XlSUTHRUS  (THE  BABYLONIAN  NoaH)  IN 
THE   Ark, 
Saved  through   the  assistance  of  the  gods 
from  the  deluge.     [After  an  ancient  Baby- 
lonian cylinder.     Reproduced  from  Smith- 
Sayce.      Cli.  A.  of  G.,  p.  300  ] 


agrees  in  all  important  de- 
tails with  the  analogous 
story  in  Genesis.  It  is  the 
eleventh  part  of  a  larger 
epic  celebrating  Izdubar,t 
a  sun-h^ro  and  an  Assyr- 
ian Hercules,  who  goes 
through  the  twelve  signs 
of  the  Zodiac,  the  elev- 
enth being  Aquarius,  cor- 
responding to  the  eleventh  month  of  the  Accadians,  called 
"the  rainy. "J 

Who  has  not  3^et  seen,  even  in  our  most  modern 
cathedrals,  pictures  and  statues  of  the  four  Evangelists 
adorned  with  the  four  representative  beings  of  the  animal 
creation?     Matthew  is    accompanied    by   an    angel  or  a 

*  See  George  Smith,  TJie  Chaldean  Account  of  Getusis,  edited  by  Prof.  A.  H. 
Sayce,  p.  304,  and  also  Dr.  Paul  Haupt's  habilitation  lecture  Dtr  keilinschriftliche 
Sintjhithbericht,  Leipzig,  1S81. 

f  This  is  the  commonly  adopted  form  of  the  name  ;  although  the  proper  tran- 
scription is  Gilgamesh.  He  is  also  called  "  Gistubar."  The  literal  meaning  of  the 
word  is  "  mass  of  fire."  See  Lenormant's  Histoire  Ancicnyie  de  V Orient,  V.,  p.  igg. 

J  Some  of  the  pictures  of  the  Zodiac  are  strikingly  like  those  which  modern 
charts  employ  ;  for  instance  the  centaur  and  the  scorpion,  which  can  be  seen  on  an 
Assyrian  bas-relief  in  the  British  Museum  reproduced  in  Lenormant's  Histoire  An- 
ctenne  de  I' Orient,  V.,  p.  180. 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES. 


33 


winged  man,  Mark  h^y  a  lion,  Luke  by  a  steer,  and 
St.  John  by  an  eagle.  The  creatures  represent  the 
cherubim  of  the  Old  Testament,  who  by  the  early  Chris- 
tians were  conceived  as  the  guardians  and  heavenly  pro- 
totypes of  the  Gospel-writers.  But  these  symbols  are 
not  original  with  the  Jews ;  they  are  of  a  more  venerable 


Wall  Decoration  of  the  Royal  Palace  at  Nineveh  in  their  Present  State. 
(After  Place,  reproduced  from  Lenormant.) 

age  than  even  the  Old  Testament ;  for  we  find  them  on 
the  walls  of  the  ancient  royal  palaces  of  Nineveh,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it  that  the  Jewish  conception 
of  the  cherubim  is  the  heirloom  of  a  most  hoary  antiq- 
uity. 

About  Sargon  I.,  king  of  Agade,  who,  according  to 
a  tablet  of  King  Nabonidus,  lived  3754  B.  C.  and  built 


34  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

a  temple  to  Sanias,  Mr.  E.  A.  Wallis  Budge  saj's  in  his 
Babylotiian  Life  and  History^  p.  40  : 

"A  curious  legend  is  extant  respecting  this  king,  to  the  effect 
that  he  was  born  in  a  city  on  the  banks  of  the  Euplirates,  tliat  his 
mother  conceived  him  in  secret  and  brought  him  forth  in  a  humble 
place  ;  that  she  placed  him  in  an  ark  of  rushes  and  closed  it  with 
pitch  ;  that  she  cast  him  upon  the  river  in  the  water-tight  ark  ;  that 
the  river  carried  him  along  ;  that  he  was  rescued  b^-  a  man  called 
Akki,  who  brought  him  up  to  his  own  trade  ;  and  that  from  this 
position  the  goddess  Istar  made  him  king." 

As  to  the  Assja'io-Babylonian  origin  of  these  legends 
there  can  be  no  doubt.      The  best  authorities  agree — 

"that  Chaldea  was  the  original  home  of  these  stories  and  that  tht 
Jews  received  them  originally  from  the  Babylonians."  (Smith 
Sayce,  Tlie  Cka/dean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  312.) 

The  numerous  illustrations  that  have  been  found  or. 
early  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  seals  prove — 

"that  the  legends  were  well  known  and  formed  part  of  the  litera- 
ture of  the  country  before  the  second  millennium  B.  C. "  (//'.,  p. 
331-') 

It  is  probable  that  all  the  old  Chaldean  legends  ex- 
isted in  several  versions.  Of  the  creation  story  we  pos- 
sess two  accounts  which  vary  considerably ;  but  one  of 
them,  which  is  narrated  on  seven  tablets,  is  of  special  in- 
terest to  us,  not  only  on  account  of  its  being  the  main 
source  of  the  first  chapter  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  also 
because  we  possess  in  it  one  of  the  oldest  documents  in 
which  the  existence  of  the  Evil  One  is  mentioned.  He 
is  called  in  Assyrian  Tiamtu^  i.  e.,  the  deep,  and  is  repre- 
sented as  the  serpent  that  beats  the  sea,  the  serpent  of  the 


ACCAD  ANU  THK  KARLV  SKMITF.S.  35 

night,  the  serpent  of  darkness,  the  wicked  serpent,  and 
the  mighty  and  strong  serpent. 

The  derivation  of  the  biblical  account  of  Creation 
from  Assyrian  sources  can  as  little  be  doubted  as  that 
of  other  legends,  not  only  because  of  its  agreement  in 
several  important  features,  and  in  many  unimportant 
ones,  but  also  because  sometimes  the  very  words  used 
in  Genesis  are  the  same  as  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions. 
We  find  in  both  records  such  coincidences  as  the  creation 
of  woman  from  the  rib  of  man  and  the  sending  out  of 
birds  from  the  ark  to  ascertain  whether  the  waters  had 
subsided.  First  the  birds  returned  at  once,  then  they  re- 
turned, according  to  the  cuneiform  tablet-inscriptions  of 
the  Assyrians,  with  their  feet  covered  with  mud;  at  last 
they  returned  no  more.  Further,  the  Hebrew  Jlfchtni/d/i, 
confusion,  chaos,  is  the  Assja'ian  Munniiii^  while  the  He- 
brew tchoiUi  the  deep,  and  tohfi^  desolate,  correspond  to 
the  Assyrian  Tiaiu/n  (=  Ti'aii/al) . 

Our  excavators  have  not  as  yet  found  a  report  of  the 
fall  of  man  and  of  the  serpent  that  seduced  Adam  and 

Eve  to  taste  the  fruit  of 


r~ 


\'\ 


T^ 


the  tree  of  life.  There 
is,  however,  a  great  prob- 
ability that  some  similar 
legend  existed,  as  we  are 
in  possession  of  pictures 
which  represent  two  per- 

Sacred  Tree  and  Serpent. 
From  an   ancient   Babylonian  cylinder         SOUS   Seated  Uuder  a  tree 
After  Smith. — Sayce  (L.  c,  p.  88.)  j  ,  i 

■^     '       ^  and  a  serpent  near  by. 

The  tree  of  life  is  an  idea  which  must  have  been 
very  popular  among  the  Assj-rians  and  Babylonians,  for 


36 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THK  DEVIL. 


their  artists  do  not  tire  of  depicting  it  in  every  form.     It 
may  date  back  to  that  remote  period  when  the  fruits  of 


The  Tree  of  Life 

Decorations  on  the  embroidery  of  a  royal  mantle. 

(British  Museum.    Layard,  Moiiiimetits,  ist  series,  pi.  6.   Lenormant,  /.  /.  V.,  p.  io8). 

trees  constituted  an  important  part  of  the  food  133-  which 
human  life  was  sustained.''' 


*  It  is  noteworthy  \\\a.\  fngiis,  the  beechtree,  and  0'i;6r,  the  oak,  which  are  both 
etymologically  identical  with  the  English  word  /'fe{-/i  and  the  German  Bii<-/it\  mean 
"eating"  or  "the  tree  with  eatable  fruit."  The  word  ncoin,  which  is  not  derived 
from  oak,  but  is  connected  with  acre,  the  field,  means  "harvest  or  fruit";  it  has 
no  connexion  with  the  German  Eic/iel  (acorn),  but  it  is  the  same  as  the  German 
Ecker,  which  is  the  name  of  the  beechtree  fruit. 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES. 


n 


Tiamat  is  the  original  watery  chaos  from  which 
heaven  and  earth  were  g-enerated.  Babylonian  philoso- 
phers see  in  it  the  mother  of  the  world  and  the  source  of 
all  things,  while  in  mythology  it  appears  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  disorder  and  the  mother  of  the  monsters  of 
the  deep. 

After  a  long  struggle  Tiamat  was  conquered,  as  we 
read  in  the  fourth  tablet  of  the  creation-story,  by  the  vSun- 
god,  Belus  or  Bel-Merodach.  The  struggle,  however,  is 
not  finished,  for  the  demon  of  evil  is  living  still  and  Bel 


Merodach  Delivering  the  Moon-God  from  the  Evil  Spirits. 
(From  a  Babylonian  cylinder.      From  Smith's  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis.) 

has  to  fight  the  seven  wicked  storm-demons  who  darken 
the  moon.  He  kills  dragons  and  evil  spirits,  and  the  re- 
appearance of  divine  intelligence  in  rational  creatures  is 
symbolised  in  the  m3'th  that  Bel  commanded  one  of  the 
gods  to  cut  off  his,  i.  e.  Bel's  head,  in  order  to  mix  the 
blood  with  the  earth  for  the  procreation  of  animals  which 
should  be  able  to  endure  the  light. 

We  here  reproduce  a  brief  statement  of  the  Babylon- 
ian story  of  the  creation,  in  which  Tiamat  plays  an  im- 
portant part.  Professor  Sayce  says  {Records  of  the  Past, 
New  Series,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  128-131)  : 


38  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DE\1L. 

"A  good  deal  of  the  poem  consists  of  the  words  put  into  the 
mouth  of  the  god  Merodach,  derived  possibly  from  older  lays.  The 
first  tablet  or  book,  however,  expresses  the  cosmological  doctrines 
of  the  author's  own  day.  It  opens  before  the  beginning  of  time, 
the  expression  '  at  that  time '  answering  to  the  expression  '  in  the 
beginning  '  of  Genesis.  The  heavens  and  earth  had  not  yet  been 
created,  and  since  the  name  was  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the 
thing  named,  their  names  had  not  as  yet  been  pronounced.  A 
watery  chaos  alone  existed,  Mummu  Tiamat,  '  the  chaos  of  the 
deep.'  Out  of  the  bosom  of  this  chaos  proceeded  the  gods  as  well 
as  the  created  world.  First  came  the  primaeval  divinities,  Lakhmu 
and  Lakhamu,  words  of  unknown  meaning,  and  then  An-sar  and 
Ki-sar,  'the  upper'  and  'lower  firmament.'  Last  of  all  were  born 
the  three  supreme  gods  of  the  Babylonian  faith,  Anu  the  sky-god, 
Bel  or  mil  the  lord  of  the  ghost-world,  and  Ea  the  god  of  the 
river  and  sea. 

"But  before  the  younger  gods  could  find  a  suitable  habitation 
for  themselves  and  their  creation,  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  '  the 
dragon  '  of  chaos  with  all  her  monstrous  offspring.  The  task  was 
undertaken  by  the  Babylonian  sun-god  Merodach,  the  son  of  Ea, 
An-sar  promising  him  victory,  and  the  other  gods  providing  for 
him  his  arms.  The  second  tablet  was  occupied  with  an  account  of 
the  preparations  made  to  ensure  the  victory  of  light  over  darkness, 
and  order  over  anarchy. 

"The  third  tablet  described  the  success  of  the  god  of  light  over 
the  allies  of  Tiamat.  Light  was  introduced  into  the  world,  and  it 
only  remained  to  destroy  Tiamat  herself.  The  combat  is  described 
in  the  fourth  tablet,  which  takes  the  form  of  a  poem  in  honor  of 
Merodach,  and  is  probably  an  earlier  poem  incorporated  into  his 
text  by  the  author  of  the  epic.  Tiamat  was  slain  and  her  allies  put 
in  bondage,  while  the  books  of  destiny  which  had  hitherto  been 
possessed  by  the  older  race  of  gods  were  now  transferred  to  the 
younger  deities  of  the  new  world.  The  visible  heaven  was  formed 
out  of  the  skin  of  Tiamat,  and  became  the  outward  symbol  of  An- 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES.  39 

sar  and  the  habitation  of  Ann,  Bel,  and  Ea,  while  the  chaotic 
waters  of  the  dragon  became  the  law-bound  sea  ruled  over  by  Ea. 

"The  heavens  having  been  thus  made,  the  fifth  tablet  tells  us 
how  they  were  furnished  with  mansions  for  tin-  sun,  and  moon,  and 
stars,  and  how  the  heavenly  bodies  were  bound  down  by  fixed  laws 
that  they  might  regulate  the  calendar  and  determine  the  year.  The 
sixth  tablet  probably  described  the  creation  of  the  earth,  as  well  as 
of  vegetables,  birds,  and  fish.  In  tlie  seventh  tablet  the  creation 
of  animals  and  reptiles  was  narrated,  and  doubtless  also  that  of 
mankind. 

"  It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  in  its  main  outlines  the  Assyr- 
ian epic  of  the  creation  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  account 
of  it  given  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  In  each  case  the  history 
of  the  creation  is  divided  into  seven  successive  acts;  in  each  case 
the  present  world  has  been  preceded  by  a  watery  chaos.  In  fact 
the  self-same  word  is  used  of  this  chaos  in  both  the  Biblical  and 
Assyrian  accounts — /chihn,  Tiaiiiat — the  only  difference  being  that 
in  the  Assyrian  story  '  the  deep  '  has  become  a  mythological  per- 
sonage, the  mother  of  a  chaotic  brood.  The  order  of  the  creation, 
moreover,  agrees  in  the  two  accounts;  first  the  light,  then  the  cre- 
ation of  the  firmament  of  heaven,  subsequently  the  appointment 
of  the  celestial  bodies  '  for  signs  and  for  seasons  and  for  days  and 
years,'  and  next,  the  creation  of  beasts  and  'creeping  things.'  But 
the  two  accounts  also  differ  in  some  important  particulars.  In  the 
Assyrian  epic  the  earth  seems  not  to  have  been  made  until  after 
the  appointment  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  instead  of  before  it,  as  in 
Genesis,  and  the  seventh  day  is  a  day  of  work  instead  of  rest,  while 
there  is  nothing  corresponding  to  the  statement  of  Genesis  that 
'the  spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.'  But  the 
most  important  difference  consists  in  the  interpolation  of  the  strug- 
gle between  Merodach  and  the  powers  of  evil,  as  a  consequence  of 
which  light  was  introduced  into  the  universe,  and  the  firmament  of 
the  heavens  was  formed. 

"It  has  long  since  been  noted  that  the  conception  of  this 
struggle  stands  in  curious  parallelism  to  the  verses  of  the  Apoca- 


40 


THE  HISTORY  OK  THE  DEVIL. 


lypse  (Rev.  xii,  7-9):  'And  there  was  war  in  heaven:  Michael 
and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon  ;  and  the  dragon  fought 
and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not  ;  neither  was  their  place  found 
an)'  more  in  heaven.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out,  that  old 
serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole 
world.'  'We  are  also  reminded  of  the  words  of  Isaiah,  xxiv.  21,  22  : 
'The  Lord  shall  punish  the  host  of  the  high  ones  that  are  on  high, 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth  upon  the  earth.  And  they  shall  be  gath- 
ered together,  as  prisoners  are  gathered  in  the  pit,  and  shall  be 
shut  up  in  the  prison.'  " 

The  Babylonians  worshipped  man}'  deities,  but  their 
favorite  god  was  Bel,  Avho  is  frequently  identified  with 
Merodach,  on  account  of  his  struggle  with  Tianiat. 


The  Chaldean  Trinity  Blessing  the  The  Goddess  Anna. 

Tree  of  Life  (Bas-relief  in  the  British  Museum.     Le- 

(British  Museum.   Lenormant,  V.,  p.  234.)  normant,  V.,  p.  259.) 


Bel-Merodach  is  one  of  the  great  trinity  of  Ann,  Ea, 
and  Bel,  which  on  an  ancient  cylinder  is  pictured  as 
hovering  above  the  tree  of  life  before  which  two  human 
forms,  apparent!}'  king  and  queen,  are  seen  in  an  atti- 
tude of  adoration. 

The  Babylonian  trinity  was  thought  to  be  male  and 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES. 


41 


female,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  female  representa- 
tive of  the  divine  father  Ann,  the  god-mother  Anna,  also 
called  Istar,  was  worshipped  under  the  symbol  of  a  dove, 
which  in  a  purer  and  nobler  form  reappears  in  Christian- 
ity as  an  emblem  of  most  significant  spirituality. 

Bel-Merodach  is  the  Christ  of  the  Babylonians,  for 
he  is  spoken  of  as  the  son  of  the  god  Ea,  the  personifica- 
tion of  all  knowledge  and  wisdom.   Professor  Budge  says  : 


Fight  Between  Bel-Merodach  and  Tiamat. 
From  an  ancient  Assyrian  bas-relief,  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

"The  omnipresent  and  omnipotent  Marduk  (Merodach)  was 
the  god  'who  went  before  Ea'  and  was  the  healer  and  mediator  for 
mankind.  He  revealed  to  mankind  the  knowledge  of  Ea  ;  in  all 
incantations  he  is  invoked  as  the  god  '  mighty  to  save'  against  evil 
and  ill." — Babylonian  Life  and  History,  p.   127. 

The  struggle  between  Bell-Merodach  and  Tiamat  was 
a  favorite  subject  with  Assyrian  artists.     In  one  of  them, 


42  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

which  is  now  preserved  in  the  British  IMuseum,  the  Evil 
One  is  represented  as  a  monster  with  claws  and  horns, 
with  a  tail  and  wings,  and  covered  with  scales. 

Concerning  the  Evil  One  and  hell,  as  conceived  bj' 
the  Babylonians,  Mr.  Budge  says,  pp.  139,  140: 

"Their  Hades  was  not  so  very  far  different  from  Sheol,  or  the 
'pit'  of  the  Bible,  nor  the  Devil  much  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  Satan  we  read  of." 

"The  Babylonian  conception  of  hell  is  made  known  to  us  by  a 
tablet  which  relates  the  descent  of  Istar  thither  in  search  of  her 
lovely  young  husband,  Tammuz.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  same 
word  for  Hades,  i.  e.  Sheol,  as  that  used  in  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, has  been  found  in  Babylonian  texts  ;  but  this  assertion  has 
been  made  while  the  means  for  definitely  proving  it  do  not  at  pres- 
ent e.xist.  The  lady  of  the  Babylonian  Hades  was  called  Nin-ki- 
gal,  and  the  place  itself  had  a  river  running  through  it,  over  which 
spirits  had  to  cross.  There  was  also  '  a  porter  of  the  waters'  (which 
reminds  us  of  the  Charon  of  the  Greeks),  and  it  had  seven  gates. 
The  tablet  mentioned  above  tells  us  that — 

1.  To  the  land  of  no  return,  to  the  afar  off,  to  regions  of  corruption, 

2.  Istar,  the  daughter  of  the  Moon-god,  her  attention  firmly 

3.  fixed,  the  daughter  of  the  Moon-god.  her  attention  fixed 

4.  the  house  of  corruption,  the  dwelling  of  the  deity  Irkalla  (to  go) 

5.  to  the  house  whose  entrance  is  without  exit 

6.  to  the  road  whose  way  is  without  return 

7.  to  the  house  whose  entrance  is  bereft  of  light 

8.  a  place  where  much  dust  is  their  food,  their  meat  mud, 
g.   where  light  is  never  seen,  where  they  dwell  in  darkness 

10.   ghosts  (?)  like  birds  whirl  round  and  round  the  vaults 
u.  over  the  doors  and  wainscoting  there  is  thick  dust. 

"The  outer  gate  of  this  "land  of  no  return'  was  strongly 
guarded  and  bolted,  for  the  porter,  having  refused  to  grant  Istar 
admission,  the  goddess  says — 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES. 


43 


'  Open  thy  gate  and  let  me  enter  in  ; 
If  thou  openest  not  the  gate,  and  I  come  not  in, 
I  force  the  gate,  the  bolt  I  shatter, 
I  strike  the  threshold,  and  I  cross  the  doors, 
I  raise  the  dead,  devourers  of  the  living, 
(for)  the  dead  exceed  the  living.' 

"There  is  another  name  for  Hades,  the  signs  wliicli  form  it 
meaning  '  the  house  of  the  land  of  the  dead.'  A  gloss  gives  its  pro- 
nunciation as  Arali.  Such,  then,  is  the  Babylonian  hell.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  say  where  they  imagined  their  Hades  to  be,  but  it  has  been 
conjectured  by  some  that  they  thought  it  to  be  in  the  west." 


Besides  Tiamat  there  were  in  Assyrian  and  Baby- 
lonian mythology  innumerable  demons  whose  names  are 
known  through  the  inscrip- 
tions and  whose  portraits 
are  preserved  on  statues, 
bas-reliefs,  and  cylinders. 
The  magic  formulae  which 
were  employed  to  ward  off 
their  influence  are  alwa3's 
uttered  seven  times  in  the 
Sumero-Accadian  language 
which  was  deemed  more 
sacred  on  account  of  its 
age,  for  it  had  become  un- 
intelligible for  the  common 
people  and  remained  in  use 
only  for  liturgic  purposes. 
The  Assyrians  expected  to 
frighten  demons  away  by 
showing  them  their  own  shape  and  by  exhorting  them 
to  destroy  themselves  mutually  in  an  internecine  com- 


EviL  Demons. 
(From  a  Chaldean  stele  in  the  British 
Museum.     After  Lenormant.) 


44 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


bat.     Lenormant  briefly  sets  forth  the  demonology  of  the 
Assyrians  Histoire  aiicicinie  dc  P Orient,  V.,  page  494. 

"In  tlie  army  of  the  Good  as  well  as  in  the  army  of  Evil, 
there  obtains  a  hierarchical  system  of  more  or  less  powerful  spirits 
according  to  their  rank.      The  texts  mention  the  ekim  and  the  telal 

or  warrior  ;  the  maskin  or  trapper  ; 
the  alal  or  destro3'er  ;  the  labartu, 
the  labassu,  the  ahharu,  kind  of 
ghosts,  phantoms,  and  vampires. 
Frequently  the  tiias,  the  lamina,  and 
the  iituq  are  quoted  ;  and  a  distinc- 
tion is  made  between  the  good  and 
the  evil  iiias,  the  good  and  the  evil 
lamtna,  the  good  and  the  evil  utuq. 
There  are  also  the  alapi  or  winged 
bulls,  the  nirgalii  or  winged  lions, 
and  the  innimierable  kinds  of  heav- 
enly archangels.  The  gods  Anna 
and  Ea,  called  the  spirit  of  heaven 
{zi  an  fia)  and  the  spirit  of  the  earth 
{zi  ki  a),  as  the  gods  of  every  sci- 
ence, are  commonly  invoked  in  in- 
cantations as  alone  able  to  protect 
Demon  of  the  Southwest  Wind. 

(Statue  in  the  Louvre.    After  Le-   mankind  against  the  attacks  of  the 

Dormant  )  evil    spirits.      The    monuments    of 

Chaldca  prove  the  existence  of  an  extremely  complex  demonology 
the  exact  gradation  of  which  is  not  yet  sufficiently  known." 

Concerning  the  Devil    of    the    disease  -  engendering 
southwest  wind  Lenormant  sa^'s  {ibid.  V.,  p.  212)  : 

"The  Louvre  possesses  the  image  of  a  horrible  demon  in  up- 
right posture,  with  a  dog's  head,  eagle's  feet,  lion's  paws,  and  a 
scorpion's  tail.  Half  of  the  head  shows  the  skull  fleshless.  He 
has  four  spread  wings.      A  ring  at  the  top  of  the  head  served  to 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES. 


45 


suspend  the  figtire.  On  the  back  of  the  statue  is  the  inscription 
in  sumero-accadian,  indicating  that  it  represents  the  demon  of  the 
southwest  wind  and  that  it  should  be  placed  at  the  door  or  the  win- 
dow for  the  sake  of  warding  off  his  injurious  influence.    Tin.'  soutli- 


NiRGALLI. 

Lion-headed  and  eagle-claw-footed  demons.      (British  Museum.     After  Lenor- 
mant,  /.  c  ,  V-,  p.  204.) 

west  wind  in  Chaldea  comes  from  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  and  its 
burning  breath  parches  everything,  producing  the  same  ravages  as 
the  khamsin  in  Syria  and  the  simoon  in  Africa." 

The  Nirgalli  are  described  by  the  same  scholar  as 
follows  {ibid,  v.,  p.  215)  : 


46 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DE\"IL. 


'At  Kuyunjik,  in  tlie  palace  of  Asurbanipal,  we  see  in  several 
corners  a  series  of  monsters  with  human  bodies,  lions'  heads,  and 
eagles'  feet.  They  appear  in  groups  of  two,  combating  one  an- 
other with  daggers  and  clubs.  They,  too.  are  demons  and  express 
in  the  language  of  the  sculptor  the  formula  so  frequently  met  with 


W^ 


V  \'  V  1^  i^ I  r 


,11 


%uJUL£^t,,<m^,ul 


An  Ancient  Assyrian  Bronze  Tablet  Representing  the  World  in  the 

Clutches  of  an  Evil  Demon. 

Collection  of  M.  de  Clercq.      (After  Lenormant), 

in  incantation  :    '  The  evil  demons  should  get  out,  they  should  mu- 
tually kill  one  another.'  " 

There  is  an  ancient  bronze  tablet  Avliicli  shows  the 
picture  of  the  world  in  the  clutches  of  the  Devil.  Lenor- 
mant, when  speaking  of  the  Chaldean  conception  of  hell, 
alludes  to  this  remarkable  piece  of  antiquity  and  de- 
scribes it  as  follows : 


"A  bronze  plate  in  tlie  collection  of  M.  De  Clercq  contains  in 
a  synoptic  world-picture  a  representation  of  hell,  and  it  is  necessary 


ACCAD  AND  THE  EARLY  SEMITES.  47 

that  we  liere  give  a  description  of  it.  One  side  of  the  bronze  plate 
is  entirely  occupied  by  a  four-footed  monster,  with  four  wings, 
standing  on  eagle's  claws.  Raising  himself  on  his  hind  feet,  he 
looks  as  though  he  intended  to  jump  over  the  plate  against  which 
he  leans.  His  head  reaches  over  the  border  as  over  the  top  of  a 
wall.  The  face  of  the  wild  and  roaring  monster  towers,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  plate,  above  a  picture  which  is  divided  into  four 
horizontal  strips  representing  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  hell.  In 
the  top  strip  one  sees  the  symbolic  representations  of  the  celestial 
bodies.  Underneath  appears  a  series  of  seven  persons  clad  in  long 
robes  and  having  heads  of  a  lion,  a  dog,  a  bear,  a  ram,  a  horse,  an 
eagle,  and  a  serpent.  These  are  the  celestial  genii  called  ig/iigs. 
The  third  strip  exhibits  a  funeral  scene,  which  undoubtedly  hap- 
pens on  earth.  Two  personages  dressed  in  the  skin  of  a  fish,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  god  Anu,  are  standing  at  the  head  and  foot  of  a 
mummy.  Further  on  there  are  two  genii — one  with  a  lion's  head, 
the  other  with  a  jackal's  head — who  threaten  one  another  with  their 
daggers,  and  a  man  seems  to  flee  from  this  scene  of  horror.  The 
picture  of  the  fourth  strip  is  bathed  in  the  floods  of  the  ocean,  which 
according  to  the  traditional  mythology  of  the  Chaldeans  reaches  un- 
derneath the  foundations  of  the  earth.  An  ugly  monster,  half  bes- 
tial, half  human,  with  eagles'  wings  and  claws,  and  a  tail  terminat- 
ing in  a  snake's  head,  stands  on  the  shore  of  the  ocean,  on  which 
a  boat  is  floating.  This  is  the  boat  of  the  deity  Elippu,  frequently' 
mentioned  in  the  religious  texts  and  probably  the  prototype  of  the 
boat  of  Charon  in  Greek  mythology.  In  the  boat  is  a  horse  which 
carries  upon  its  back  a  gigantic  lion-headed  deity,  holding  in  her 
hands  two  serpents  ;  and  two  little  lions  jump  to  her  breast  to  suck 
her  milk.  In  the  corner  there  are  fragments  of  all  kinds,  human 
limbs,  vases,  and  the  remainders  of  a  feast. 

"  Thus  this  little  bronze  tablet  contains  the  picture  of  the  world 
such  as  the  imagination  of  the  Chaldeans  represented  it  to  be  :  the 
gods  and  the  sidereal  powers,  angels  and  demons,  ighigs  and  anun- 
naks,  the  earth  and  men,  with  supernatural  beings  who  exercise  a 
direct  influence  upon  them  :   the  dead  protected  by  certain  demons 


48  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

and  attacked  by  others  according  to  the  pliilosophical  conception  of 
good  and  evil,  and  the  antagonism  of  the  two  principles  which  con- 
stitutes the  basis  of  the  Assyrio-Chaldean  religion.  Anu  protects 
the  dead  in  the  same  way  as  does  the  Egyptian  Osins.  There  is  the 
subterranean  river  reminding  one  of  the  Styx  and  Acheron  of  the 
Greeks  as  well  as  of  the  subterranean  Nile  of  Amenti. "     (P.  291.) 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  old  biblical  legends, 
far  from  losing  their  ^•alue  by  being  proved  to  be  much 
older,  gain  an  additional  value ;  they  are  now  more  inter- 
esting to  us  than  ever.  Formerly  the  biblical  account  of 
the  creation  was  thought  to  be  the  very  beginning  of  the 
religious  evolution  of  man,  but  now  we  know  that  it  is 
merely  a  milestone  on  the  road.  It  is  neither  the  begin- 
ning nor  the  end.  It  is  simply  the  summary  of  a  long 
history  of  anxious  inquiry  and  speculation,  which  would 
have  remained  forgotten  had  we  not  discovered  the  Assyr- 
ian tablets  bearing  witness  to  the  aspirations  that  pre- 
ceded the  composition  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  there 
is  one  thing  which  seems  strange  :  the  Chaldean  belief  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  found  no  echo  in  the  litera- 
ture of  the  Jews.  Did  they  refuse  to  incorporate  it  into 
the  Hebrew  world-conception  because  they  disbelieved  it ; 
or  did  they  merely  ignore  it  because  they  were  too  real- 
istic and  would  not  allow  themselves  to  be  earned  away 
by  illusions  even  of  the  loftiest  kind? 

The  civilisation  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  was  more 
brilliant,  more  powerful,  and  more  cosmopolitan  than  the 
civilisation  of  Israel.  Nevertheless,  there  is  this  impor- 
tant difference  between  the  religious  legends  and  specula- 
tions of  these  two  nations,  that  while  the  Assyrian  tablets 
are  polytheistic  and   mythological,   the    Hebrew  text   is 


ACCAD  AND  THK  EARLY  SKMITKS.  49 

monotlieistic.  The  mythological  ornanients  of  the  orig- 
inal story  have  been  chastened  and  simplified.  Without 
being  blind  to  the  poetic  beauties  of  the  original,  which 
in  its  way  is  not  less  venerable  than  the  later  Hebrew 
version,  we  must  say  that  the  latter  is  a  decided  improve- 
ment. Its  greater  simplicity  and  freedom  from  fantastic 
details  gives  it  a  peculiar  soberness  and  grandeur  which 
is  absolutely  lacking  in  the  Assyrian  myth  of  the  crea- 
tion. 

While  uneouivocally  recognising  the  superiority^  of 
the  Hebrew  account,  we  must,  however,  mention  in  jus- 
tice to  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  civilisation  that  mon- 
otheism was  by  no  means  an  exclusively  Jewish  belief. 
There  were  monotheistic  hymns  of  great  strength  and 
religious  beauty,  both  in  Egypt  and  in  Babylon,  long  be- 
fore the  existence  of  the  people  of  Israel,  and  it  is  not 
impossible  that  what  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  calls  "the 
monotheistic  party"  of  Babylon  or  their  brethren  in 
Egypt  were  the  founders  of  Jevv'ish  monotheism.  It  is 
certain  that  the  philosophers  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia 
were  not  without  influence  upon  the  development  of  the 
Israelitic  religion. 

Egyptian  and  Babylonian  monotheists  apparently 
suffered  the  popular  mythology  as  a  symbolical  expres- 
sion of  religious  truth,  while  in  later  periods  the  religious 
leaders  of  the  Jews  had  no  patience  with  idolators,  and, 
becoming  intolerant  of  polytheism,  succeeded  in  blotting 
out  from  their  sacred  literature  the  popular  superstitions 
of  their  times;  some  vestiges  onl3'  were  left,  which  are 
now  valuable  hints  indicating  the  nature  of  the  text  be- 
fore it  was  changed  by  the  hands  of  later  redactors. 


PERSIAN  DUALISM. 


,  T^HE    TRANSITION    from    Devil-worship   to    God- 

^  A       worship    marks    the    origin    of    civilisation ;     and 

among  the  nations  of  antiquity  the  Persians  seem  to 
have  been  the  first  who  took  this  step  with  conscious  de- 
liberation, for  they  most  earnestly  insisted  upon  the  con- 
trast that  obtains  between  good  and  evil,  so  much  so  that 
their  religion  is  even  to-day  regarded  as  the  most  consist- 
ent form  of  dualism. 

The  founder  of  Persian  dualism  was  Zarathustra,  or, 
as  the  Greeks  called  him,  "Zoroaster" — a  name  which 
in  its  literal  translation  means  "golden  splendor." 

Zoroaster,  the  great  prophet  of  Mazdaism  (the  belief 
in  Mazda,  the  Omniscient  One) ,  it  is  rightly  assumed, 
was  not  so  much  the  founder  of  a  new  era  as  the  conclud- 
ing link  in  a  long  chain  of  aspiring  prophets  before  him. 
The  field  was  ripe  for  the  harvest  when  he  appeared,  and 
others  must  have  prepared  the  way  for  his  movement. 

Zoroaster  is  in  all  later  writings  represented  as  a 
demigod,  a  fact  which  suggested  to  Professor  Darme- 
steter  the  idea  that  he  was  a  mj'thical  figure.  Neverthe- 
less, and  although  we  know  little  of  Zoroaster's  life,  we 


PERSIAN  DUALISM.  51 

have  the  documentary  evidence  in  the  "  Gathas  "  that  he 
was  a  real  historical  personality. 

Prof.  A.  V.  Williams  Jackson  in  an  essay  "On  the 
Date  of  Zoroaster '""  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  he 
lived  between  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh  and  the  mid- 
dle of  the  sixth  centur3',  and  Dr.  E.  W.  Westf  points  out 
that  the  calendar  reform,  in  which  the  old  Persian  names 
of  the  months  were  supplanted  by  Zoroastrian  names,  was 
introduced  in  the  year  505  B.  C.  This  proves  that  the 
kings  of  the  Achtemenian  dynasty  were  Zoroastrians.J 
Professor  Jackson  says : 

"The  kingdom  of  Bactria  was  the  scene  of  Zoroaster's  zealous 
ministry,  as  I  presume.  Born,  as  I  believe,  in  Atropatene,  to  the 
west  of  Media,  this  prophet  witliout  honor  in  his  own  country  met 
with  a  congenial  soil  for  the  seeds  of  his  teaching  in  eastern  Iran 
His  ringing  voice  of  reform  and  of  a  nobler  faith  found  an  answer 
ing  echo  in  the  heart  of  the  Bactrian  king  Vishtaspa,  whose  strong 
arm  gave  necessary  support  to  the  crusade  that  spread  the  new 
faith  west  and  east  throughout  the  land  of  Iran.  Allusions  to  this 
crusade  are  not  uncommon  in  Zoroastrian  literature.  Its  advance 
must  have  been  rapid.  A  fierce  religious  war,  which  in  a  way  was 
fatal  to  Bactria,  seems  to  have  ensued  with  Turan.  This  was  that 
same  savage  race  in  history  at  whose  door  the  death  of  victorious 
Cyrus  is  laid.  Although  tradition  tells  us  the  sad  story  that  the  fire 
of  the  sacred  altar  was  quenched  in  the  blood  of  the  priests  when 
Turan  stormed  Balkh,  this  momentary  defeat  was  but  the  gathering 

*  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Sociely,  Vol.  XVII  ,  p.  96 
fin  a  letter  to  Professor  Jackson  alluded  to  on  page  20  of  his  essay. 
\  The  story  that  Croesus's  life  was  saved  through  Zoroastrian  influences  upon 
the  mind  of  Cyrus,  as  told  by  Nicolaus  Damascenus  who  wrote  in  the  first  century 
B.  C,  is  quite  probable.  We  read  (in  fragm.  65,  Muller,  Fragm.  Hist.  Cr,,  iii., 
409)  that  religious  scruples  rose  in  addition  to  other  considerations,  and  the  words 
of  Zoroaster  ('/MpoaoTpov  /.6)ia)  were  called  to  mind  that  the  fire  should  not  be  de- 
filed. Therefore  the  Persians  shouted  that  the  life  of  Croesus  should  be  spared. 
Compare  Harlez,  Avesta  traduit,  In  trod  ,  pp.  xliv.,  Ixvii. 


52  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

force  of  victory;  triumph  was  at  hand.  The  spiritual  spark  of  re- 
generation lingered  among  the  embers  and  was  destined  soon  to 
burst  into  the  flame  of  Persian  power  that  swept  over  decaying 
Media  and  formed  the  beacon-torch  that  lighted  up  the  land  of  Iran 
in  early  history." 

The  Gathas  are  hymns ;  they  are  a  product  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centiiries  before  Christ,  the  authenticitj' 
of  which  is  suflScietitl}-  proved  not  only  by  the  later  Per- 
sian literature,  the  Pahlavi  books,  but  also  by  Greek 
authors,  especially  by  passages  quoted  in  Plutarch  and 
Diogenes  Laertes  from  Theopompus,  who  wrote  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century  before  Christ.  The  Gathas 
profess  to  be  written  by  Zoroaster  who  appears  in  them 
not  as  a  demigod  but  as  a  struggling  and  suffering  man, 
sometimes  elated  by  the  grandeur  of  his  aspirations, 
firmly  convinced  of  his  prophetic  mission,  and  then  again 
dejected  and  full  of  doubt  as  to  the  final  success  of  the 
movement  to  which  he  devoted  all  his  energies.  Saj'S 
Prof.  L.  H.  Mill,  the  translator  of  the  Gathas: 

"Their  doctrines  and  exhortations  concern  an  actual  religious 
movement  taking  place  contemporaneously  with  their  composition  : 
and  that  movement  was  exceptionall)'  pure  and  most  earnest. 

"That  any  forgery  is  present  in  the  Gathas,  any  desire  to 
palm  off  doctrines  upon  the  sacred  community  in  the  name  of  the 
great  prophet,  as  in  the  \'endidad  and  later  Yasna,  is  quite  out  of 
the  question.      The  Gathas  are  genuine  in  their  mass." 

There  were  two  religious  parties  in  the  days  of  Zo- 
roaster:  the  worshippers  of  the  daevas  or  nature-gods, 
1  and  the  worshippers  of  Ahura,  the  Lord.  Zoroaster  ap- 
pears in  the  Gathas  as  a  priest  of  the  highest  rank  who 
became  the  leader  of  the  Ahura  party.  Zoroaster  not 
only  degraded  the  old  nature-gods,  the  daevas,  into  de- 


PERSIAN  DUALISM.  53 

mons,  but  also  regarded  them  as  representatives  of  a  fiend- 
ish power  which  he  called  Au^ro  Alaznyush,  or  A  In  iiiiaii., 
which  means  "the  evil  spirit,"  and  Dnij*  i.  e.,  false- 
hood. 

The  Scythians  in  the  plains  of  Northern  Asia,  the 
most  dangerous  neighbors  of  Persia,  worshipped  their 
highest  deity  under  the  symbol  of  a  serpent,  and  it  was 
natui'al  that  the  snake  Afrasiab,t  the  god  of  the  enemy, 
became  identified  with  the  archfiend  Ahriman. 

The  Persians  are  often  erroneously  called  fire  wor- 
shippers, but  it  goes  without  saying  that  as  the  sun  is 
not  a  god  and  cannot,  according  to  Zoroaster,  in  and  for 
itself  receive  divine  honor  or  be  worshipped,  so  the  flame 
which  is  lit  in  praise  of  Ahura  Mazda  is  a  symbol  only  of 
him  who  is  the  light  of  the  soul  and  the  principle  of  all 
goodness. 

Zoroaster  taught  that  Ahriman  was  not  created  by 
Ahura,  but  that  he  was  possessed  of  independent  exist- 
ence. The  evil  spirit,  to  be  sure,  was  not  equal  to  the 
Lord  in  dignity,  nor  even  in  power;  nevertheless,  both 
were  creative,  and  both  were  original  in  being  themselves 
uncreated.  They  were  the  representatives  of  contradictory 
principles.  And  this  doctrine  constitutes  the  dualism  of 
the  Persian  religion,  which  is  most  unmistakably  ex- 
pressed in  the  words  of  the  thirtieth  Yasna.J 

"  Well  known  are  the  two  primeval  spirits  correlated  but  inde- 
pendent ;  one  is  the  better  and  the  other  is  the  worse  as  to  thought, 
as  to  word,  as  to  deed,  and  between  these  two  let  the  wise  choose 
aright." 

* Druj,  fiend,  is  always  feminine,  while  Ahriman  is  masculine. 
\  The  Turanian  form  of  Afrasiab,  was  probably  Farrusarrabba. 
I  Compare  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  XXXI.,  p.  29. 


54  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Ahura  Mazda,  the  Omniscient  Lord,  reveals  himself 
through  "the  excellent,  the  pure  and  stirring  word.'""' 
On  the  rock  inscription  of  Elvend,  which  had  been  made 
by  the  order  of  king  Darius,  we  read  these  lines t'- 

"There  is  one  God,  omnipotent  Ahura  Mazda, 
It  is  He  who  has  created  the  earth  here  ; 
It  is  He  who  has  created  the  heaven  there  ; 
It  is  He  who  has  created  mortal  man." 

The  noble  spirit  of  Zoroaster's  religion  appears  from 
the  following  formula,  which  was  in  common  use  among 
the  Persians  and  served  as  an  introduction  to  every  litur- 
gic  worship :  X 

"  May  Ahura  be  rejoiced  !  May  Angro  be  destroyed  by  those 
who  do  truly  what  is  God's  all-important  will. 

"I  praise  well-considered  thoughts,  well-spoken  words,  and 
well-done  deeds.  I  embrace  all  good  thoughts,  good  words,  and 
good  deeds  ;   I  reject  all  evil  thoughts,  evil  words,  and  evil  deeds. 

"I  give  sacrifice  and  prayer  unto  you,  O  Amesha-Spenta  !  § 
even  with  the  fulness  of  my  thoughts,  of  my  words,  of  my  deeds, 
and  of  my  heart :      I  give  unto  you  even  my  own  life. 

**'The  creative  Word  which  was  in  the  beginning"  (Ahuna-Vairyo,  Honover) 
reminds  one  not  only  of  the  Christian  idea  of  the  '/.uyoi;  of  i/f  iv  apx'j,  but  also  of  the 
Brahman  t'tU/i  (word,  etymologically  the  same  as  the  Latin  z'ox),  which  is  glorified 
in  the  fourth  hymn  of  the  Rig  Veda,  as  "pervading  heaven  and  earth,  existing  in 
all  the  worlds  and  extending  to  the  heavens." 

f  Translated  from  Lenormant's  French  rendering,  /.  c,  p.  388. 

:tCf.  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  XXIII.,  p.  22. 

§The  six  AiiteshJi-Spenld  (the  undying  and  well-doing  ones)  are  what  Chris- 
tians might  call  archangels.  Originally  they  had  been  seven,  but  the  first  and 
greatest  among  them,  Ahura  Mazda,  came  to  overshadow  the  divinity  of  the  other 
six.  They  remained  powerful  gods,  but  he  was  regarded  as  their  father  and  cre- 
ator. We  read  in  Vast,  XIX.,  16.  that  they  have  "one  and  the  same  thinking,  one 
and  the  same  speaking,  one  and  the  same  doing,  one  and  the  same  father  and  lord, 
who  is  Ahura  Mazda." 

At  first  the  Amesha  Spenti  were  mere  personifications  of  virtues,  but  latf '  on 
they  were  entrusted  with  the  government  of  the  various  domains  of  the  universe. 


PERSIAN  DUALISM.  55 

"  I  recite  the  '  Praise  of  Holiness,'  the  Ashem  Vohu :  * 

"  '  Holiness  is  the  best  of  all  good.      Well  is  it  for  it,  well  is  it 

for  that  holiness  which  is  perfection  of  holiness  ! 

"  '  I  confess  myself  a  worshipper  of  Mazda,  a  follower  of  Zara- 

thustra,  one  who  hates  the  daevas  (devils)  and  obeys  the  laws  of 

Ahura.'  " 

Lenormant  characterises  the  God  of  Zoroaster  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Ahura  Mazda  has  created  as/ia,  purity,  or  rather  the  cosmic 
order  ;  he  has  created  both  the  moral  and  material  world  constitu- 
tion ;  he  has  made  the  universe  ;  he  has  made  the  law  ;  he  is,  in  a 
word,  creator  (datar),  sovereign  {ahura),  omniscient  {mazddo),  the 
god  of  order  {as/iavan).  He  corresponds  exactly  to  Varuna,  the 
highest  god  of  Vedism. 

"  This  spiritual  conception  of  the  Supreme  Being  is  absolutely 
pure  in  the  Avesta,  and  the  expressions  that  Ormuzd  has  the  sun 
for  his  eye,  the  heaven  for  his  garment,  the  lightning  for  his  sons, 
the  waters  for  his  spouses,  are  unequivocally  allegorical.  Creator 
of  all  things,  Ormuzd  is  himself  uncreated  and  eternal.  He  had 
no  beginning  and  will  have  no  end.  He  has  accomplished  his 
creation  work  by  pronouncing  'the  Word,'  the  ' Ahuna-Vairyo, 
Honover,'  i.  e.,  'the  Word  that  existed  before  everything  else,'  re- 
minding us  of  the  eternal  Word,  the  Divine  Logos  of  the  Gospel." 
Histoire  A  ncienne  de  P  Orient,  V.,  p.  388. 

Haurvatdit  and  Amtretdt  (health  and  immortality)  had  charge  o£  waters  and 
trees.  Khshathrem  ]'airim  (perfect  sovereignty),  represented  the  flash  of  lightning. 
His  emblem  being  molten  brass,  he  was  revered  as  the  master  of  metals.  Asha 
Valiila  (excellent  holiness),  the  moral  world-order  as  symbolised  by  sacrifice  and 
burnt-offering,  ruled  over  the  fire.  Spenla  Armaiti  (divine  piety)  continued  to  be 
regarded  as  the  goddess  of  the  earth,  which  position,  according  to  old  traditions, 
she  had  held  since  the  Indo-Iranian  era ;  and  V'ohii  Maiw  (good  thought)  superin- 
tended the  creation  of  animate  life.  (See  Darmesteter,  Ormuzd  et  Ahriinan,  Paris  ; 
1877.  pp.  55,  202-206.  Comp.  Encyclopicdia  Britannica,  s.  v.  "Zoroaster,"  and 
Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  LXXI, ,  et  seq.)  For  an  exposition  of  the 
modern  Parseeism  of  India  see  Mr.  Dosabhai  Framji  Karaka's  ///.fA';j  of  the  Parsis, 
London,   1SS4. 

*  Says  Darmesteter  ;     "The   'Ashem  Vohu'  is  one  of  the  holiest  and  most  fre- 
quently recited  prayers," 


56  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Concerning  Ahriman,  Lenormant  says: 
"The  creation  came  forth  from  the  hands  of  Ormuzd,  pure 
and  perfect  Hke  himself.  It  was  Ahriman  who  perverted  it  bj'  his 
infamous  influence,  and  labored  continually  to  destroy  and  over- 
throw it,  for  he  is  the  destroyer  i^paurott  niarka)  as  well  as  the  spirit 
of  evil.  The  struggle  between  these  two  principles,  of  good  and  of 
evil,  constitutes  the  world's  history.  In  Ahriman  we  find  again  the 
old  wrathful  serpent  of  the  Indo-Iranian  period,  who  is  the  per- 
sonification of  evil  and  who  in  Vedism,  under  the  name  of  Ahi,  is 
regarded  as  an  individual  being.  The  myth  of  the  serpent  and  the 
legends  of  the  Avesta  are  mingled  in  Ahriman  under  the  name  of 
Aji  Dahdka,  who  is  said  to  have  attacked  Atar,  Traetaona,  and 
Yima,  but  is  himself  dethroned.  It  is  the  source  of  the  Greek 
myth  that  Apollo  slays  the  dragon  Python.  The  Indo-Iranian  reli- 
gion knows  only  the  struggle  that  was  carried  on  in  the  atmosphere 
between  the  fire-god  and  the  serpent-demon  Afrasiab.  And  it  was, 
according  to  Professor  Darmesteter,  the  doctrine  of  this  struggle, 
which,  when  generalised  and  applied  to  all  things  in  the  world, 
finally  led  to  the  establishment  of  dualism." 

Says  James  Darmesteter,  the  translator  of  the  Zend- 
Avesta  : 

"There  were  two  general  ideas  at  the  bottom  of  the  Indo- 
Iranian  religion  ;  first,  that  there  is  a  law  in  nature,  and  secondly, 
that  there'  is  a  war  in  nature  {Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  IV.,  p. 
Ivii). 

The  law  in  nature  proves  the  wisdom  of  Ahura,  who 
is  therefore  called  Mazda,  the  Wise.  The  war  in  nature 
is  due  to  the  intrusion  of  Ahriman  into  the  creation  of 
Ahura. 

The  fire  sacrifice  was  accompanied  by  partaking  of 
the  haoma  drink,  a  ceremony  which  reminds  us  on  the  one 
hand  of  the  soma  sacrifice  of  the  Vedic  age  in  India  and 
on  the  other  hand  of  the  Lord's  Supper  of  the  Christians. 


PERSIAN  DUALISM.  57 

We  know  tlirough  the  sacred  scriptures  of  the  Persians 
that  little  cakes  (the  draona)  covered  with  small  pieces 
of  holy  meat  (the  myazda)  were  consecrated  in  the  name 
of  a  spiritual  being,  a  god  or  angel,  or  of  some  great  de- 
ceased personality,  and  then  distributed  among  all  the 
worshippers  that  were  present.  But  more  sacred  still 
than  the  draona  with  the  myazda  is  the  haoma  drink 
which  was  prepared  from  the  white  haoma  plant,  also 
called  gaokerena.  Says  Professor  Darmesteter:  "It  is 
by  the  drinking  of  gaokerena  that  men,  on  the  day  of  the 
resurrection,  will  become  immortal." 

The  way  in  which  the  Persian  sacrament  of  drinking 
the  gaokerena  was  still  celebrated  in  the  times  of  earl}^ 
Christianity,  must  have  been  very  similar  to  the  Chris- 
tian communion,  for  Justinus,  when  speaking  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  among  the  Christians,  adds  "that  this 
very  solemnity,  too,  the  evil  spirits  have  introduced  in 
the  mysteries  of  Mithra." 

After  death,  according  to  the  Zoroastrian  doctrine, 
the  soul  must  pass  over  ciuvato  perciiish,  that  is,  the 
"accountant's  bridge,"  where  its  future  fate  is  decided. 
This  bridge  stretches  over  the  yawning  abyss  of  hell, 
from  the  peak  of  Judgment  to  the  divine  Mount  Alborz, 
and  becomes,  according  to  the  most  common  statements 
of  the  doctrine,  broad  to  the  good,  a  pathway  of  nine 
javelins  in  breadth,  while  to  the  wicked  it  is  like  the  edge 
of  a  razor.  Evil  doers  fall  into  the  power  of  Ahriman 
and  are  doomed  to  hell;  the  good  ^nler gar 6  demana^  the 
life  of  bliss  ;  while  those  in  whom  good  and  evil  are  equal, 
remain  in  an  intermediate  state,  the  Hamcstakdns  of  the 
Pahlavi  books,  until  the  great  judgment-day  (called  akd) . 


58  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

The  most  characteristic  features  of  the  Persian  reli- 
gion after  the  lifetime  of  Zoroaster  consist  in  the  teach- 
ing that  a  great  crisis  is  near  at  hand,  which  will  lead  to 
the  renovation  of  the  world  called  frasliokereti  in  the 
Avesta,  and  frashakart  in  Pahlavi.  Saviours  will  come, 
born  of  the  seed  of  Zoroaster,  and  in  the  end  the  great 
Saviour  who  will  bring  about  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 
He  will  be  the  "  son  of  a  virgin  "  and  the  "All-conquer- 
ing." His  name  shall  be  the  Victorious  [vcrctlirajaii)  ^ 
Righteousness-incarnate  {astvat-ereta) ,  and  the  Saviour 
{saos/ivafit)  .  Then  the  living  shall  become  immortal,  yet 
their  bodies  will  be  transfigured  so  that  they  will  cast  no 
shadows,  and  the  dead  shall  rise,  "within  their  lifeless 
bodies  incorporate  life  shall  be  restored."  (Fr.  4.  3.)* 
The  Persian  belief  in  the  advent  of  a  saviour  who  will 
make  mankind  immortal  seems  to  reappear  in  an  in- 
tenser  form  in  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  who  preached  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
near  at  hand.  St.  Paul  still  believed  that  the  second  ad- 
vent of  Christ  would  take  place  during  his  own  life-time. 
The  dead  who  sleep  in  the  Lord  will  be  resurrected,  and 
the  bodies  of  those  that  are  still  in  the  ilesh  will  be  trans- 
figured and  become  immortal. 

The  influence  of  Zoroaster's  religion  upon  Judaism 
and  early  Christianity  cannot  be  doubted.  Not  onl}-  does 
the  original  text  of  the  book  of  Ezra  directlj'  declare 
that  "Cyrus,  the  King,  built  the  house  of  the  Lord  in 
Jerusalem,  where  thej^  worship  him  with  the  eternal  fire" 

*For  a  concise  statement  of  the  Persian  religion,  which  in  many  respects  fore- 
shadows the  Christian  doctrines  of  a  Saviour  and  of  the  bodily  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  see  Prof.  A.  V.  Williams  Jackson's  excellent  article,  "The  Ancient  Persian 
Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life,"  published  in  the  Biblical  World,  August,  1S96. 


PERSIAN  DUALISM. 


59 


{diet  TTvpos  e'vSsXsxovs),  but  there  arc  many  Jewish  ceremo- 
nies preserved  to  the  present  day,  which  bear  a  close 
resemblance  to  the  ritual  of  ancient  Mazdaism.  In  addi- 
tion there  is  a  documentary  evidence  preserved  in  "The 
Arabic  Gospel  of  the  Infancy"  (Chapter  7),  that  the 
Magi  came  from  the  East  to  Jerusalem  according  to  a 
prophecy  of  Zoroaster. 

The  Persian  world-conception,  like  the  religion  of 
the  Jews,  was  too  abstract  to  favor  any  artistic  develop- 
ment.*    Therefore  we  do  not  possess  representations  of 


An  Assyrian  Cameo 


A  Persian  Cameo 


Assyrian  Cylinder. 

Lajard,  Cn//c  de  Milhra,  pi.  xxx..  No.  7. 

Lenormant,  V,,  p.  248.) 

either  good  or  evil  spirits  which  are  exclusively  and  pe- 
culiarly Persian.  Even  the  picture  of  Ahura  Mazda  (as 
we  find  it  on  various  bas-reliefs)  is  not  based  upon  a  con- 
ception that  could  be  said  to  be  regarded  as  original. 
The  figure  from  which  the  bust  of  the  god  of  light  and 
goodness  rises  can  be  traced  to  Assyrian  emblems,  and 
may,  for  all  we  know,  be  of  Accadian  origin.  There  is, 
for   instance,  an  Assyrian    cylinder  which    represents  a 

*For  Persian  art  see  Marcell  Dienlafoy's  work  L'art  unliijue  de  la  Perse,  in 
vvhicli  for  the  present  purpose  the  title  vignette  and  the  illustrations  on  page  4  are 
of  interest. 


60 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


worshipper  standing  before  tlie  idol  of  a  god.  Behind  him 
is  the  tree  of  life  and  a  priest  carrying  in  his  left  hand  a 
rosary,  while  the  deity  hovers  above  them  in  a  similar 
shape  to  the  Ahura-Mazda  pictures  of  the  Persians. 

Ahura  Mazda  is  pictured  as  a  winged  disc  without 
any  head,  in  the  st3'le  of  Chaldean  sun-pictures,  in  a 
cameo  representing  him  as  worshipped  by  two  sphinxes, 
between  whom  the  sacred  haoma  plant  is  seen  (see  p. 
59).     In  another  cameo  (see  p.  59)  he  appears  as  a  hu- 


if  lii  1 


\  ■-.■>>.:  viF--'    mmk 


Sculptures  on  a  Royal  Tomb. 
(Coste  et  Flandin,  Perse  Ancienne,  at  Persepolis,  pi.  164.      Lenormant,  V.    p.  23  ) 

man  figure  without  wings,  rising  from  a  crescent  that 
hovers  above  the  sacrificial  fire.  Above  him  is  a  picture 
of  the  sun,  and  before  him  stands  a  priest  or  a  king  in  an 
attitude  of  adoration. 

There  are  some  magnificent  representations  of  Ahura- 
Mazda  on  ancient  Persian  monuments,  which  claim  our 
special  attention.     There  is  a  loftiness  and  majesty  about 


_^-— -v^^^    I'/^hTZ,,,, --^^.^ 


*«  '  '    '         •  •.  'I'i'f  M  '  '.  I  I    ^         t   '^  /';  I  I  I  I  ','.'.1  J,i.i.>  I'll''^^'"^  _jnf1Itl^  ' 


':. 


i.y  jv  '■J  .j_  •■i--j-^-liz  .^  t*  -f  -   -y      _■>  o'  t  J  1j  ^.  'Jir^.-a~^'^ ^j 


(^ 


Bas-relief  of  Persepolis. 
(After  Coste  et  Flandin,  Perse  Aiuhnne,  pi.  156.     From  Lenormant,  V.,  p.  485.) 


62  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

his  appearance,  wliicli  lifts  bis  picture  above  the  Assyrian 
conception  of  deities.  In  his  hands  he  holds  either  a  ring 
or  the  short  royal  staff  of  rulers,  appearing  at  the  top  like 
a  lotus  flower. 

Prof.  A.  V.  Williams  Jackson  explains  the  ring  in 
the  hands  of  Ahura  Mazda  as  "the  Circle  of  Sover- 
eignty,'"" and  interprets  the  loop  with  streamers  in 
which  the  figure  floats  as  a  variation  of  the  same  idea, 
for  in  some  of  the  pictures  it  appears  as  a  chaplet,  or 
waist-garland  with  ribbons. t 

It  is  not  possible  that  the  loop  with  streamers  is 
originally  a  disc  representing  the  disc  of  the  sun  after 
the  fashion  of  Egyptian  temple  decorations.  At  any 
rate,  there  are  a  great  number  of  Assyrian  sculptures  of 
the  same  type  which  are  unequivocally  representations  of 
the  sun.  A  CA'linder  (published  in  Lajard's  Ctilte  de 
Mit/ira,  plate  XLIX.,  No.  2)  illustrating  the  myth  of 
god  Isdubar's  descent  to  Hasisatra,  shows  the  two  scor- 
pion-genii of  the  horizon  watching  the  rise  and  the  set- 
ting of  the  sun.  Here  the  sun  appears,  like  the  figure 
from  which  Ahura  Mazda  rises,  as  a  winged  disc  with 
feather-tail  and  streamers.  In  addition,  we  find  the  same 
picture  in  the  deit}^  that  protects  the  tree  of  life,  which 
can  only  signifj^  the  benign  influence  of  the  sun  on 
plants  (see  p.  36)  ;  and  the  old  Babylonian  cylinder  rep- 
resenting Merodach's  fight  with  the  evil  spirit  that  dark- 

*See  his  article  on  "The  Circle  of  Sovereignty,"  m  i\ie  America?i  Oriental 
Society's  Proceedings,  May,  1889. 

f  See  K.  O.  Kiash,  Ancient  Persian  Scnlptarcs;  and  also  Rawlinson.  J.  R. 
A,  S.,  X.  p.  187.  Kossowicz,  Inscriptiones  Palaco  Persicae  Achaemcniodorum, 
p  46  et  seq. 


PERSIAN  DUALISM. 


63 


ens  the  moon  (see  p.  ?)7) ,  shows  the  feathered  dial  in  this 
same  conventional  shape  covered  with  clouds.* 

A  representation  of  Ahriman  has  not  yet  been  dis- 
covered among  the  Persian  antiquities.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  bas-relief  in  Persepolis  which  depicts  the  king  in 
the  act  of  slaying  a  unicorn.  The  monster  is  very  simi- 
lar to  the  Assyrian  Tiamat  (see  p.  41) ,  and  we  cannot 
doubt  that  the  Persian  sculp- 
tor imitated  the  style  of  his 
Assyrian  predecessors. 

We  have  little  information 
concerning  the  origin  of  Zoro- 
aster's dualism,  but  we  can 
nevertheless  reconstruct  it,  at 
least  in  rough  outlines.  For 
there  are  witnesses  left,  even 
to-day,  of  the  historical  past  of 
the  old  Persian  religion.  A 
sect  called  the  Izedis  are  the 
fossil  representatives  of  the 
Devil-worship  that  preceded  the  purer  notions  of  the 
Zoroastrian  worship  prevailing  in  the  Zend-Avesta.  Fol- 
lowing the  authority  of  a  German  traveller,  Tylor  says 
{Primitive  Culture,  Vol.  II.,  p.  329)  : 

"The  Izedis  or  Yezidis,  the  so-called  Devil-worshippers,  still 
remain  a  numerous  though  oppressed  people  in  Mesopotamia  and 
adjacent  countries.  Their  adoration  of  the  sun  and  horror  of  defil- 
ing fire  accord  with  the  idea  of  a  Persian  origin  of  their  religion 
(Persian  " /s<7/"=  God),  an  origin  underlying  more  superficial  ad- 

*  There  is  no  need  of  enumerating  other  cylinders  and  bas-reliefs  of  the  same 
kind,  as  they  are  too  frequently  found  in  Assyrian  archa;ology.  See  for  instance 
the  illustrations  in  Lenormant,  /.  /.  V.,  pp.  177,  230,  247,  296,  299,  etc. 


The  King  Slaying  a  Unicorn. 
(Bas-relief  of  Persepolis.) 


64  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

mixture  of  Christian  and  Moslem  elements.  This  remarkable  sect 
is  distinguished  by  a  special  form  of  dualism.  While  recognising 
the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  their  peculiar  reverence  is  given 
to  Satan,  chief  of  the  angelic  host,  who  now  has  the  means  of  doing 
evil  to  mankind,  and  in  his  restoration  will  have  the  power  of  re- 
warding them.  '  Will  not  Satan  then  reward  the  poor  Izedis,  who 
alone  have  never  spoken  ill  of  him,  and  have  suffered  so  much  for 
him?'  Martyrdom  for  the  rights  of  Satan  !  exclaims  the  German 
traveller,  to  whom  an  old  white-bearded  Devil-worshipper  thus  set 
forth  the  hopes  of  his  religion." 

This  peculiar  creed  of  the  Izedis  is  similar  to  the  re- 
ligion of  Devil-worshipping  savages  in  so  far  as  the  recog- 
nition of  the  good  powers  is  not  entirely  lacking,  but  it  is, 
as  it  were,  a  merely  negative  element ;  the  positive  im- 
portance of  goodness  is  not  yet  recognised.  It  is  probable 
that  the  Persians  in  prehistoric  times  were  as  much  Devil- 
worshippers  as  are  the  Izedis.  The  daevas,  the  deities  of 
the  irresistible  forces  of  nature,  were  pacified  by  sacri- 
fices. A  recognition  of  the  power  of  moral  endeavor  as 
represented  in  the  personified  virtues,  the  Amesha  Spenta, 
was  the  product  of  a  slow  development.  Thus  in  Persia 
the  Devil-worship  of  the  daevas  yielded  to  the  higher  reli- 
gion of  God-worship ;  and  this  change  marks  a  decided 
step  in  advance,  resulting  soon  afterwards  in  the  Per- 
sians' becoming  one  of  the  leading  nations  of  the  world. 


ISRAEI.. 


Azazel,  the  God  of  the  Desert. 

THE  PRIMITIVE  STAGES  of  the  Hebrew  civili- 
sation are  not  sufficiently  known  to  describe  the 
changes  and  phases  which  the  Israelitic  idea  of  the  God- 
head had  to  undergo  before  it  reached  the  purity  of  the 
Yahveh  conception.  Yet  the  Israelites  also  must  have 
had  a  demon  not  unlike  the  Egyptian  Typhon,  for  the 
custom  of  sacrificing  a  goat  to  Azazel,  the  demon  of  the 
desert,  suggests  that  the  Israelites  had  just  emerged  from 
a  dualism  in  which  both  principles  were  regarded  as 
equal. 

We  read  in  Leviticus  xvi. : 

"And  Aaron  shall  cast  lots  upon  the  two  goats  ;  one  for  the 
Lord,  and  the  other  for  Azazel.  And  Aaron  shall  bring  the  goat 
upon  which  the  Lord's  lot  fell,  and  offer  him  for  a  sin-offering.  But 
the  goat  on  which  the  lot  fell  for  Azazel,  shall  be  presented  alive 
before  the  Lord,  to  make  atonement  with  him  and  to  let  him  go  to 
Azazel  in  the  desert." 

The  name  Azazel  is  derived  from  aziz.,  which  means 
strength,  and  El^  God.  The  god  of  war  at  Edessa  is 
called  Asisos  {"A^i^o;) ,  the  strong  one.    Bal-aziz  was  the 


66  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

strong  god,  and  Rosh-aziz^  the  head  of  the  strong  one,  is 
the  name  of  a  promontory  on  the  Phoenician  coast.  Aza- 
zeli  accordingly,  means  the  Strength  of  God. 

The  mention  of  Azazel  must  be  regarded  as  a  last 
remnant  of  a  prior  dualism.  Azazel,  the  god  of  the  des- 
ert, ceased  to  be  the  strong  god,  and  became  a  mere 
shadow  of  his  former  power,  for  the  scapegoat  is  no 
longer  a  sacrifice.  Yahveh's  goat  alone  is  offered  for  a 
sin-offering,  while  the  scapegoat  carries  out  into  the  des- 
ert the  curse  of  the  people's  sin,  and  thus  the  worship  of 
Azazel  changed  into  a  mere  recognition  of  his  existence. 

These  sacrificial  ceremonies,  however,  which,  on  ac- 
count of  their  being  parts  of  religious  performances, 
were  only  reluctantly  discarded,  are  the  lingering  ves- 
tiges in  Hebrew  literature  of  an  older  dualism  in  which 
the  power  of  evil  received  an  equal  share  of  worship  with 
the  power  of  good. 

Siipcrstitio>is. 

The  Old  Testament  contains  many  noble  ideas  and 
great  truths  ;  indeed  it  is  a  most  remarkable  collection  of 
religious  books,  than  which  there  is  none  more  venerable 
in  the  literature  of  the  world.  Yet  there  are  tares  among 
the  wheat,  and  many  lamentable  errors  were,  even  by 
some  of  the  leaders  of  the  old  Israelites,  regarded  as  es- 
sential parts  of  their  religion.  The  writers  of  the  Bible 
not  onl}'  made  God  responsible  for,  and  accessory  to,  the 
crimes  which  their  own  people  committed,  e.  g.,  theft 
(Exodus  xi.) ,  and  murder  and  rape  (Numbers  xxxi.  17- 
18)  ;  but  they  cherished  also  the  same  superstitions  that 
were   commonly    in    vogue    among   savages.     Thus    the 


ISRAEL.  67 

custom  of  buryin.ij  people  alive  under  foundation  stones 
is  mentioned  as  having  been  sanctioned  l)y  tlie  God  of  Is- 
rael. When  Jericho  was  destroyed  at  the  special  com- 
mand of  God,  all  its  inhabitants  were  slain,  "both  man 
and  woman,  young  and  old,  and  ox  and  sheep  and  ass," 
with  the  sole  exception  of  Rahab,  a  disreputable  woman 
who  had  betrayed  the  city  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies 
of  her  countrj'uien.  And  Joshua  adjured  the  people, 
saying : 

"Cursed  be  the  man  before  the  Lord,  that  riseth  up  and  build- 
eth  this  city  Jericho  :  he  shall  lay  the  foundation  thereof  in  his  first 
born  and  in  his  youngest  son  shall  he  set  up  the  gates  of  it." 

Jericho,  however,  was  sure  to  be  rebuilt  sooner  or 
later,  for,  being  the  key  to  Palestine,  and  commanding 
the  entrance  into  the  country  from  the  desert  routes,  it 
was  too  important  both  for  commercial  and  strategic  pur- 
poses to  be  left  in  ruins  ;  and  the  man  who  undertook  the 
work  was  still  superstitious  and  savage  enough  to  heed 
Joshua's  curse:  We  read  in  the  first  Book  of  Kings,  with 
reference  to  the  reign  of  j\hab  (Chap.  xvi.  34)  : 

"In  his  days,  Hiel  the  Bethelite  built  Jericho;  he  laid  the 
foundation  stones  thereof  in  Abiram,  his  first  born,  and  set  up  the 
gates  thereof  in  his  youngest  son,  Segub,  according  to  the  word  of 
the  Lord  which  he  spake  by  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun." 

The  terrible  witch-prosecutions  which  in  the  Middle 
Ages  harassed  Christianity  have  their  root  in  passages  of 
the  Old  Testament. 

The  laws  of  Exodus  (xxii.  18)  provide  capital  pun- 
ishment for  witchcraft,  and  the  same  command  is  re- 
peated in  Leviticus,  where  we  read: 


68 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


"  The  soul  that  turneth  after  such  as  have  familiar  spirits,  and 
after  wizards,  I  will  even  set  my  face  against  that  soul,  and  will  cut 
him  off  from  among  his  people"     (Lev.  xx.  6.) 

"A  man  also  or  a  woman  that  hath  a  familiar  spirit,  or  that  is 
a  wizard,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  ;  they  shall  stone  them  with 
stones  :   their  blood  shall  be  upon  them."     (Lev.  xx.  27.) 

In  spite  of  the  severity  of  the  law  against  wizards 
and  witches,  the  Israelites  were  always  inclined  to  resort 


Saul  and  the  Witch  of  Endor.     (After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld.) 

to  their  help.  Saul,  who  had  done  his  best  to  extermi- 
nate soothsayers  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  9),  when  in  greatest 
anxiety,  called  on  the  witch  of  Endor. 

It  is  evident  from  various  passages  that  the  Israelites 
believed  in  evil  spirits  dwelling  in  darkness  and  waste 
places.      (See    Lev.  xvii.   7;    Dent.   xxx.   17;  ib.  xxxii. 


I.SRAEL. 


69 


17;  2  Chron.  xi.  15;  Isaiah  xiii.  21;  ib.  xxxiv.  14;  Jcr. 
1.  39;  Psalms  cvi.  37.)  Their  names  are  Sciiini  (clii- 
meras  or  sroat-spirits) ,  Li  lit  It  (llie  iiisjjhtly  one) ,  Shedini 
(demons) .  The  Sciriiii  remind  us  of  Assyrian  i^ictiircs 
which  represent  evil  spirits  in  the  shape  of  goats.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  these  various  demons  of  the  He- 


AssYRlAN  Goat  Demons,      (Carvings  on  a  boulder.      After  Lenormant.) 


brews  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  residuum  of  a  lower  reli- 
gious stage  preceding  the  period  of  the  monotheistic  Yah- 
veh  cult,  or  as  witnesses  to  the  existence  of  superstitions 
which  certainly  haunted  the  imagination  of  the  uncul- 
tured not  less  in  those  da3'S  than  they  do  now  in  this  age 
of  advanced  civilisation. 

Apparently  the  rise  of  a  purer  religion  was  slow  and 


70  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

the  habits  of  a  savage  age  were  long-lingering.  The 
vestiges  of  devil-worship  with  several  of  its  most  bestial 
rites  and  even  human  sacrifices'*  continued  to  exist  even 
when  a  more  radiant  light  began  to  shine  in  the  world. 

Satan. 

When  Azazel  began  to  be  neglected,  Satan  rose  into 
existence.  The  belief  in  a  God  of  Evil  was  replaced  by 
the  belief  in  an  evil  demon.  And  Satan,  the  tempter  and 
originator  of  all  evil,  was  naturally  identified  with  the 
serpent  that  ' '  was  more  subtil  than  any  beast  of  the 
field"  (Genesis  iii.  1). 

Satan,  the  fiend,  as  a  name  in  the  sense  of  Devil, 
is  rarely  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  word 
Satan,  which  means  "enemy"  is  freely  used,  but,' as 
a  proper  name,  signifying  the  Devil,  appears  onlj-  five 
times.  And  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  same  event  is,  in 
two  parallel  passages,  attributed,  in  the  older  one  to 
Yahveh,  and  in  the  younger  one,  to  Satan. 

"We  read  in  2  Samuel  xxiv.  1 : 

"The  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel,  and  he 
moved  David  against  them  to  say,  Go,  number  Israel  and  Judah. " 

The  same  fact  is  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  xxi.  1: 

"Satan  stood  up  against  Israel  and  provoked  David  to  num- 
ber Israel." 

In  all  the  older  books  of  Hebrew  literature,  espe- 
cially in  the  Pentateuch,  Satan  is  not  mentioned  at  all. 
All  acts  of  punishment,  revenge,  and  temptation  are  per- 
formed by  Yahveh  himself,  or  by  his  angel  at  his  direct 

*See  pp.  IO-I2  of  this  book. 


ISRAEL.  71 

command.  So  the  temptation  of  Abr;ili  uii,  the  slaughter 
of  the  first-born  in  Egypt,  the  brimstone  and  fire  rained 
upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the  evil  s])irit  whicli  came 
upon  Saul,  the  pestilence  to  punish  David — all  these 
things  are  expressl3^  said  to  have  come  from  God.  Even 
the  perverse  spirit  whicli  made  the  Egyptians  err  (Is;iiali 
xix.  14) ,  the  lying  spirit  which  was  in  the  mouths  of  the 
prophets  of  Ahab  (1  Kings  xxii.  23;  see  also  2  Chron. 
xviii.  20-22),  ignorance  and  indifference  (Isaiah  xxix. 
10) ,  are  directly  attributed  to  acts  of  God. 

The  prophet  Zechariah  speaks  of  Satan  as  an  angel 
whose  ofl&ce  it  is  to  accuse  and  to  demand  the  punishment 
of  the  wicked.  In  the  Book  of  Job,  where  the  most  poet- 
ical and  grandest  picture  of  the  Evil  One  is  found,  Satan 
appears  as  a  malicious  servant  of  God,  who  enjoys  per- 
forming the  functions  of  a  tempter,  torturer,  and  avenger. 
He  accuses  unjustly,  like  a  State's  attorney  who  prose- 
cutes from  a  mere  habit  of  prosecution,  and  delights  in 
convicting  even  the  innocent,  while  God's  justice  and 
goodness  are  not  called  in  question. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Satan,  in  the  canonical  books 
of  the  Old  Testament,  is  an  adversary  of  man,  but  not  of 
God;   he  is  a  subject  of  God  and  God's  faithful  servant. 

The  Jewish  idea  of  Satan  received  some  additional 
features  from  the  attributes  of  the  gods  of  surrounding 
nations.  Nothing  is  more  common  in  histor}^  than  the 
change  of  the  deities  of  hostile  nations  into  demons  of 
evil.  In  this  way  Beelzebub,  the  Phoenician  god,  became 
another  name  for  Satan;  and  Hinnom  (i.  e.  Gelmma)  ^ 
the  place  where  Moloch  had  been  worshipped,  in  the 
valley  of  Tophet,  became  the  Hebrew  name  for  hell  in 


12  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

place  of  the  word  Sheo/,  the  world  of  the  dead  under 
ground.  The  idol  of  Moloch  was  made  of  brass,  and  its 
stomach  was  a  furnace.  According  to  the  prophets  (Is. 
Ivii.  5  ;  Ez.  xvi.  20 ;  Jer.  xix.  5) ,  children  were  placed  in 
the  monster's  arms  to  be  consumed  by  the  heat  of  the 
idol.  The  cries  of  the  victims  were  drowned  by  drums, 
from  which  ("toph,"  meaning  drum)  the  place  was  called 
"Tophet."  Even  the  king,  Manasseh,  long  after  David, 
made  his  son  pass  through  the  fire  of  Moloch  (2  Kings 
xxi.  )  .*  Josiah  endeavored  to  make  an  end  of  this  ter- 
rible practice  by  defiling  Tophet,  in  the  valley  of  the 
children  of  Hinnom  (2  Kings  xxxiii  10) . 

Thus  the  very  name  of  this  foreign  deity  naturally 
and  justly  became  among  the  Israelites  the  symbol  of 
abomination  and  fiendish  superstition. 

The  historical  connexion  of  Israel's  religion  with  the 
mythologies  of  Assyria  and  Babylon,  begins  now  to  be 
better  understood  ;  since  we  have  learned  to  decipher  the 
ancient  cuneiform  records.  There  are  many  most  signifi- 
cant reminiscences  of  Bel  Merodach's  combat  with  Tiamat 
left  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  Hermann  Gunkel  aftei 
having  given  a  literal  translation  of  the  several  passages 
with  explanatory  comments  says  {^Schbpjung  und  Chaos, 
p.  88)  : 

"Nowhere  in  extant  literature  is  the  myth  of  Yahveh's  combat 
with  the  dragon  actually  narrated.  Judaism,  the  distinctive  work 
of  which  was  the  collection  of  the  canon,  did  not  admit  myths  that 

*  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  Biblical  reports  concerning  Moloch,  for 
Diodorus  (20,  14)  describes  the  cult  of  the  national  god  of  Carthage,  whom  he  iden- 
tifies with  the  Greek  "Kronos,"  in  the  same  way  ;  so  that  in  consideration  of  the 
fact  that  Carthage  is  a  Phoenician  colony,  we  have  good  reasons  to  believe  this 
Kronos  to  be  the  same  deity  as  the  Ammonite  Moloch,  who  was  satiated  by  the 
same  horrible  sacrifices. 


ISRAEL. 


73 


savored  of  heathendom.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  that  in  all  the  pas- 
sages that  speak  of  the  dragon  the  myth  is  not  portrayed  but  simply 
presupposed,  proves  that  it  was  very  well  known  and  very  popular 
with  the  people.  The  absence  of  the  myth  in  the  canon, — and  this 
in  the  interest  of  the  Christian  reader  need  not  be  deplored, — is 
distinct  and  conclusive  evidence  that  we  possess  in  our  Old  Testa- 
ment a  fragment  only  of  the  old  re- 
ligious literature. 

"The  m\th  was  from  the  very 
beginning  in  Israel  a  hymn  to  Yah- 
veh.  The  Yahveh-hymn  therefore 
is  the  favorite  place  for  making 
reference  to  the  dragon-myth, — of 
which  we  have  a  beautiful  instance 
in  Psalm  Ixxxix.  The  poet  that 
portrays  Yahveh's  oppression  of  hu- 
manity (Job  xl.  et  seq. ;  ix.  13;  xvi. 
13;  also  Psalm  civ.) ;  the  prophet 
that  terrorises  the  sinning  people 
with  pictures  of  Yahveh's  omnipo- 
tence (Am.  ix.);  he  that  arouses  the 
people  languishing  under  a  foreign 
dominion  (Isaiah  li.  9  et  seq.)  :  all 
make  direct  reference  to  Yahveh's 
power  even  over  the  dragon."* 


The  Seven-Armed  Candlestick 

Showing  the  Monsters 

OF  THE  Deep. 


It  is  noteworthy  that  the  seven-armed  candlestick 
of  the  arch  of  Titus  contains  on  its  base  figures  of  drag- 
ons, which  we  may  jitstly  as,sume  to  be  Leviathan,  Behe- 
moth, and  Rahab,  the  mythological  monsters  of  Israel. 


*It  maybe  added  that  the  references  in  the  passages  in  question  are  abso- 
lutely unintelligible  unless  internreted  by  some  such  light  as  that  given  by  Gunke!. 
To  the  reader  without  a  commentary  they  are  sealed  utterances,  for  the  mere 
translation  in  our  Bible  ofiers  no  help  to  their  understanding. 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


INDIA,  the  primitive  home  of  religion  and  philosophy, 
exhibits  as  strong  a  tendency  for  monism  as  the  Per- 
sian nation  has  shown  for  dualism.  But  the  ancient  mo- 
nism of  India  is  apt  to  lose  itself  in  pantism, — a  theor3' 
according  to  which  the  All  alone  (or  rather  the  concep- 
tion of  the  absolute  as  the  All)  is  possessed  of  reality, 
while  all  concrete  existences  are  considered  as  a  mere 
sham,  an  illusion,  a  dream.* 

The  polytheism  of  the  popular  Hinduismf  is  practi- 
cally a  pantheism  in  which  the  various  deities  are  re- 
garded as  aspects  of  the  One  and  All  in  which  a  dis- 
crimination between  good  and  evil  is  entirely  lost  sight 
of.  Thus  the  struggle  between  good  and  evil  is  contem- 
plated as  a  process  of  repeated  God-incarnations  made 
necessary,  according  to  the  idea  of  the  Brahmans,  bj- 
the  appearance  of  tyranny  and  injustice,  lack  of  rever- 
ence for  the  priests,  encroachments  of  the  warrior  caste 

*  Pantism,  the  theory  of  the  All  (from  ttHv,  root  IIANT),  is  different  from  Pan- 
theism, the  theory  which  identifies  the  All  (irav)  with  God  (iStof). 

f  Sir  Monier-Monier  Williams  distinguishes  between  Brahmanism,  the  old 
faith  of  the  Indian  Aryas,  and  Hinduism,  the  modern  form  of  this  same  religion, 
as  it  developed  after  the  expulsion  of  Buddhism  from  India. 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


75 


on  the  supremacy  of  the  Brahmans,  or  some  other  dis- 
order.    While  the  enemies  of  the  gods — giants,  demons, 


(1  ii.iiri\nj.iin^ij.iiAi.j.nr.nit:Y<w."i)'-r.-!\\-::ii.rit  iVitttt) 


a 


u 


9 


Q 


u 


^W 


e^<^^^ 


^ 


^Wruty/rf    Mr,,Jl., 


The  Brahman  Trimurti.    Underneath  the  marks  of  the  sects  of  Vishnu  (1-12),  Siva 
(13-30),  RamE((36),  Durga  (31-32),  and  the  Trimurti  (33-35).   (After  Coleman.) 

and  other  monsters — are  not  radically  bad,  and  cannot  be 
regarded  as  devils  in  the  sense  of  the  Christian  Satan, 


76 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  Brahman  gods  in  their  turn  are  by  no  means  the  rep- 
resentatives of  pure  goodness.  Not  only  do  they  fre- 
quently assume  shapes  that  to  the  taste  of  any  Western 
nation  would  be  exceedingly  ugly  and  diabolical,  but  the 
same  deities  who  in  one  aspect  are  beneficent  powers  of 
life,  are  in  another  respect  demons  of  destruction. 

Brahm,  the  highest  god  of  Brahmanism,  represents 

the  All,  or  the  abstract  idea  of 
being.  He  is  conceived  as  a 
trinity  which  is  called  Tri- 
murti,  consisting  of  Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Siva. 

Brahma,  the  first -origi- 
nated of  all  beings,  the  lord  of 
all  creatures,  the  father  of  all 
the  universes,  is  the  divine 
mind  who  is  the  beginning  of 
all.  He  is  called  AJa.,  the 
not-born,  because  he  has  orig- 
inated, but  Avas  not  begotten. 
Brahma  originated  from 
/at,  i.  e.,  undifferentiated  be- 
ing, in  which  he  existed  from 
eternit3^  in  an  embryonic  form. 
Brahma's  consort,  Saras- 
vati,  also  called  Brahnii  or 
Brahmini,  is  the  goddess  of  poetry,  learning,  and  music. 
Brahma  is  the  creator  of  man.  We  are  told  in  the 
Yajurveda  that  the  god  produced  from  himself  the  soul, 
which  is  accordingly  a  part  of  his  own  being,  and  clothed 
it  with  a  body — a  process  which  is  reported  in   the  re- 


Brahma. 
(Fragment  of  a  car.   Musee  Guimet 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


n 


Brahma  and  Suraswati. 
(Reproduced  from  Hermann  Goll.) 


verse  order  in  the  Hebrew  Genesis,  where  Elohini  creates 
first  the  body  and  then  breathes  the  life  into  llie  body, 
which  makes  of  man  a  living  soixl. 

Brahma  is  pictured  with  four  heads  and  four  hands, 
in  which  he  holds  a  spoon, 
a  sacrificial  basin,  a  ro- 
sary, and  the  Vedas.  One 
of  the  four  hands  is  fre- 
quentl}'  \  represented  as 
empty.  He  sits  on  a  lotu,'' 
which  grows  from  Vishnu's 
navel,  representing  the 
spirit  that  broods  over  the 
waters. 

Brahma  keeps  the  first  place  in  the  speculations  of 
philosophers,  where  he  is  identified  with  the  life-breath 
of  the  world,  the  Atman  or  self  that  appears  in  man's 
soul,  but  he  has  not  exercised  a  great  influence  on  the 
people.  The  gods  of  the  people  must  be  less  abstract, 
more  concrete  and  more  human.  Thus  it  is  natural  that 
Vishnu,  the  second  person  of  the  trinity,  the  deity  of 
avatars  or  incarnations,  is,  for  all  practical  purposes,  by 
far  more  important  than  Brahma. 

Vishnu  appears  in  the  following  ten  incarnations :  * 

In  the  first  incarnation,  called  the  Mat.sya- Avatar, 
Vishnu  assumes  the  form  of  a  fish  in  order  to  recover 
the  Vedas  stolen  by  evil  demons  and  hidden  in  the  floods 
of  a  deluge  that  covered  the  whole  earth.     This  incarna- 


*Since  it  is  our  intention  to  be  brief,  we  do  not  enter  in  this  exposition  of  the 
ten  avatars  into  any  details  that  could  be  omitted  and  neglect  to  mention  the  vari- 
ants of  the  myths. 


78 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


tion  is  of  interest  because  we  read  in  the  Pistis  Sophia 
(one  of  the  most  important  gnostic  books)  that  the  books 
of  leou,  which  were  dictated  by  God  to  Enoch  in  para- 
dise, were  preserved  by  Kalapatauroth  from  destruction 
in  the  deluge.''' 

In  order  to  enable  the  gods  to  procure  the  immortal- 
ity-giving drink,  amrita,  Vishnu  appeared  as  an  immense 


&^ 


£^r^^^-^^f^^:^jr^z^^"l  _r-:-^'^^g^-~-^=i 


Vishnu,  Lakshmi,  and  Brahma. 
[Vishnu  reclines  on  a  flower,  supported  by  the  serpent  Ananta  (a  symbol  of 
eternity),  floating  on  the  primeval  waters  of  the  undifferentiated  world-substance.] 
After  a  native  illustration,  reproduced  from  Hermann  Goll. 

tortoise  in  the  kurm-avatar,  his  second  incarnation.  He 
lifted  on  his  back  the  world-pillar,  the  mountain  Man- 
daras,  and  the  world-serpent,  Vasuki  (or  Anantas,  i.  e., 
infinite) ,  was  wound  about  it  like  a  rope.  The  gods 
seized  the  tail,  the  demons  (daityas)  the  head,  and  they 


*MS.,  p.  354,  English  translation  from  Schwarlze's  latest  translation  by  G.  R. 
S.  Meade,  p.  354. 


The  Matsva  Avatak  ok  Fish  In- 
carnation. 


The  Kurm  Avatar  or  ToRTOibE 
Incarnation.' 


The  Varaha  Avatar  or  Wild  Boar        The  Narasihha  Avatar  or  Man-Lion 
Incarnation.  Incarnation. 

'  All  the  Avatar  pictures  are  from  Picart. 


80 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


began  to  churn  the  ocean,  which  produced  Vishnu's  gem, 
Kaustubha;  Varunani,  the  goddess  of  the  sea;  the  Apsa- 
ras,  lovel}^  sprites,  corresponding  to  the  Greek  nymphs ; 

Indra's  horse,  with  seven 
heads  ;  Kamadhenu,  the  cow 
of  plent}' ;  Airavata,  Indra's 
elephant ;  the  tree  of  abund- 
ance ;  Chandra,  the  god  of 
the  moon  ;  Sura,  the  goddess 
of  wine;  and,  finally,  Dhan- 
vantari,  the  Indian  ^scula- 
pius,  who  is  in  possession  of 
the  water  of  life.  The  ser- 
pent began  now  to  spit  ve- 
nom, which  blinded  the  de- 
mons, while  the  gods  drank 
the  Amrita. 

A'arunani,  when  con- 
ceived as  goddess  of  beauty, 
is  called  Lakshmi  or  Shri ; 
and  it  is  noteworthy  that 
like  Aphrodite  of  the  Greeks 
she  originates  from  the  froth 
of  the  ocean. 

The  third  incarnation  is 
the  Varaha-avatar,  in  which 
Vishnu,  in  the  shape  of  a 
wild  boar,  kills,  with  his  tusks,  the  demon  Hiranyaksha, 
who  threatened  to  destroy  the  world. 

Hiranyaksha's  brother,  Hiranya-Kasipu,   had  a  son 
by  the  name  of  Prahlada,  Avho  was   a  pious  devotee  of 


Lakshmi.  the  Goddess  of  Beauty. 
(Musee  Guimet) 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


81 


Vislinu.  The  unnatural  fatlici"  tried  to  kill  his  son,  but 
the  lattei"  escai)ed  all  danger  because  he  did  not  cease  to 
pray  to  Vishnu.  Wlicn  Hiranya-Kasipu  expressed  a 
doubt  of  A'ishnu's  omnipresence,  mockingly  declaring 
that  he  could  not  possibly  be  in  a  column  to  which  he 
pointed,  the  wrathful  god  decided  to  punish  the  .scoffer. 
The  column  rent  in  twain,  and  Vishnu,  proceeding  fmm 
its  interior  in  the  shape  of  a  monster  half  man  half 
lion,  tore  Hiranya-Kasipu  to 
pieces.  This  fourth  incarna- 
tion is  called  the  Narasiwha- 
avatar.  Its  moral  is  to  im- 
press upon  the  people  the 
sad  fate  of  those  who  do  not 
believe  in  Vishnu. 

Pralada's  grandson,  Ba- 
lis, was  a  pious  king,  but  on 
that  very  account  dangerous 
to  the  gods,  for  he  was  just 
about  to  complete  the  hun- 
dredth grand  sacrifice,  by 
which  he  would  have  ac- 
quired sufficient  power  to  de- 
throne Indra.  Vishnu  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  god 
of  heaven  and  appeared  before  Balis  as  a  dwarf  in  guise 
of  a  Brahman  mendicant.  Balis  honored  him  with  pres- 
ents and  promised  to  fulfil  his  desire,  whereupon  the 
dwarf  requested  three  paces  of  ground.  This  was  gladly 
granted  under  a  rigid  oath  that  would  be  binding  on 
gods  and  men.  Then  the  dwarf  assumed  a  huge  shape 
and  stepped  with  the  first  pace  over  the  whole  earth,  with 


ViMHNU    NAKA>n)H\ 

(Fragment  of  a  car.      Musee  Guimet. 


82 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  second  over  tlie  atmosphere,  with  the  third  into  the 
infinity  of  the  heavens.  This  is  the  reason  why  Vishnu 
is  called  Tripadas,  or  Trivikramas,  the  three-paced  god. 
Thus  Balis  was  prevented  completing  the  hundredth  sac- 
rifice, and  Indra  was  again  safe  on  his  throne.  This 
dwarf  incarnation  is  called  the  Vamana-avatar. 


Hanuman,  the  Monkey  King,  Building  the  Bridge  Over  the  Strait  Between 
India  and  Lanka.      (Reproduced  from  Hermann  GoU.) 


The  sixth  incarnation,  called  the  Parashura  avatar, 
is  historical  in  its  character,  for  it  reflects  the  struggles 
between  the  warrior-caste  and  the  Brahmans  for  suprem- 
acy. It  is  said  that  Jamadagni,  a  pious  Brahman,  had 
received  from  the  gods  the  miraculous  cow,  Kamadugha 
(or  Surabhi) ,  which  provided  him,  his  wife,  Renuka,  and 
their  son,  Rama,  with  every  luxur}-.  Karttavirya,  a 
king   of   the    warrior-caste,   visits    him,    and    seeing   the 


The  Vamana  Avatar  or  Dwarf 
Incarnation. 


The  Parashura  Avatar  or  Battle-ax 
Incarnation. 


The  Rama  Chandra  Avatar. 
Vishnu  and  his  incarnation  in  Rama 
Chandra,  assisted  by  the  Monkey  King 
Hanuman,  vanquish  Ravana. 


The  Krishna  Avatar. 
Vishnu  is  born  as  Krishna  and  mirac- 
ulously saved  from  the  prosecutions  of 
the  tyrant  of  Mathura. 


84 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


wealth  of  the  Brahman,  tries  to  take  the  cow  from  him, 
but  the  cow  kills  all  who  dare  to  approach  her,  and  rises 
into  heaven,  whereupon  Karttavirya  in  his  wrath  slaj-s 
the  pious  Jamadagni.  Rama,  the  son  of  the  murdered 
Brahman,  invokes  Vishnu's  help  for  the  punishment  of 
the  wicked  king,  and  the  god  not  only  presents  him  with 
a  bow  and  a  battle-ax,  which  latter  is  called  in  Sanskrit 
paracuSf  the  Greek  nt\inx^^  (hence  the  name  of  this  ava- 
tar) ,  but  also  incarnates  himself  in  Rama.  Karttavirya 
is  described  as  being  in  possession  of  a  thousand  arms, 

wielding  a  thousand  weapons, 
but  Rama,  endowed  with  the 
divine  powers  of  Vishnu,  con- 
quers him  after  a  decisive 
struggle. 

The  Rama  Chandra  ava- 
tar has  taken  a  firm  hold  on 
the  Indian  mind,  and  is  de- 
scribed in  the  Ramaj'ana,  an 
epic  which  is  the  Hindu  Od- 
yssey, to  the  narrative  of  which  the  legend  of  Rama 
bears  a  great  resemblance. 

Rama  Chandra  lived  with  his  wife  Sita  (frequently 
regarded  as  an  incarnation  of  Lakshmi)  and  with  his  half- 
brother  Lakshmana  in  the  wilderness  of  the  south,  where 
he  had  withdrawn  in  order  to  obey  his  father,  who  had 
unjustly  banished  him  and  appointed  Bharata,  another 
son  of  his,  as  heir  to  the  throne.  The  demon-king,  Ra- 
vana,  waged  war  against  Rama,  and  carried  off  Sita  while 
he  and  his  brother  were  hunting.  It  is  impossible  to  re- 
late here   Rama's  adventures  in  detail,  how  he  fought 


--A'AWW.-AVTO.-ffTxrrA 


The  Monkey  King  Sugriva  FighT' 
ING.    (Reproduced from  Coleman.) 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


85 


with  giants  and  demons,  how  the  monkey  kings,  Lugriva 
and  Hanunian,  became  his  allies,  how  Hanuman  jumped 


Vishnu  and  Shri-Lakshmi    as  Rama  Chandra  and  Sita  After  Their  Happy 
Reunion.     (Reproduced  from  Coleman.) 

over  to  Lanka,  the  island  of  Ceylon,  to  reconnoitre  the 
enemy's  country,  how  the  monkej-s  built  a  bridge  over 
the  strait  by  throwing  stones  into  the  water,  how  Rama 


86 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


pursued  Ravana  to  Lanka,  and  finally  how  he  vanquished 
Ravana  and  recovered  his  faithful  wife  Sita. 

Like  the  sixth  avatar,  the  Rama  Chandra  avatar 
probabl}^  contains  historical  reminiscences.  It  also  re- 
sembles both  the  Trojan  War  and  the  Gudrun  Saga, 
the  epics  of  Western  nations  that  relate  the  story  of  an 
abducted  wife.  The  mythical  part  of  all  these  stories 
describes  the  wanderings  of  the  sun  god  in  search  of  his 
consort,  the  moon. 

In    his    eighth    incarnation,    the    Krishna    avatar, 

Vishnu  has  reached  the 
ideal  man-god  of  the 
Hindus.  Kansa,  called 
Kalankura  (i.  e.,  crane), 
the  t^-rant  of  IMathura, 
receives  the  prophecy  that 
the  eighth  son  of  his  sis- 
ter, Devaki,  will  take  his 
throne.  He  therefore  de- 
cides to  kill  all  the  chil- 
dren of  his  sister.  Her 
eighth  son,  Krishna,  however,  was  an  incarnation  of 
Vishnu,  who  spoke  at  once  after  his  birth,  comforted  his 
mother,  and  gave  directions  to  his  father,  Vasudeva,  how 
to  save  him.  Vasudeva  carried  the  infant,  protected  bj-  the 
serpent  king,  over  the  river  Jamuna,  and  exchanged  him 
in  Gokula  for  a  girl  which  Yasuda  had  just  borne  to  the 
cowherd  Nanda.  Kansa  seized  at  once  the  girl  bab}-,  but 
before  he  could  kill  her  she  raised  herself  into  the  air,  ex- 
plained to  the  wrathful  king  that  Krishna  had  been  saved, 
and  disappeared  in  the  form  of  lightning.    Kansa  now  de- 


Hanuman  Reciting  His  Adventures  to 

Rama  Chandra  and  Sita. 

(Reproduced  from  Coleman  ) 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


87 


cided  to  have  all  the  babies  in  his  empire  killed,  l)iit 
Krishna  escaped  again.  A  demon  nurse  was  sent  to  poi- 
son him  with  her  venomous  milk,  but  he  bit  and  killed 
her,  while  his  stepfather  decided  to  remove  to  a  more  dis- 
tant country  in  order  to  escape  the  continued  hostilities 
of  the  king.  Krishna  slew  the  huge  serpent,  Kali-naga, 
overcame  the  giant  Shishoo-polu,  killed  the  monster  bird 
that  tried  to  peck  out 
his  eyes,  and  also  a 
malignant  wild  ass. 
He  also  burnt  the 
entrails  of  the  alli- 
gator-shaped Peck- 
Assoort  who  had 
devoured  him ,  and 
choked  Aghi- Assoor, 
the  dragon  who  at- 
tempted to  swallow 
him.  When  Krishna 
had  grown  to  3-outh 
he  became  the  favor- 
ite of  the  lasses  of 
Gokula.  When  he 
pla3'ed  the  flute  every 
one  of  the  dancing  girls  believed  that  the  swain  whom 
she  embraced  was  Krishna  himself.  He  fell  in  love  with 
the  country  girl  Radha,  the  story  of  which  is  sung  in  the 
Jagadeva's  poem,  Gitagovinda.  He  protected  the  cow- 
herds against  storm  and  fire,  and  finally  marched  against 
Kansa,  killed  him  and  took  possession  of  his  throne. 

Krishna  plays  also  a  prominent  part  in  the  Mahab- 


Krishna  Nursed  by  Devaki. 
After  an  old  and  richly-colored  Hindu  paint- 
ing.  (Reproduced  from  Moore's  Hindu  Pantheon, 
plate,  59.) 


88 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


harata,  the  Iliad  of  the  Hindus,  which  describes  the  war 
between  the  Kurus  and  the  Pandus,*  both  descendants  of 
Bharata  and  both  grandchildren  of  Vj^asa.  Dhritarashtra, 
the  father  of  the  Kurus,  was  king  of  Hastinapur,  but  be- 
ing blind,  Bhishma,  his  uncle,  reigned  in  his  stead. 
After  a  test  of  the  faculties  of  the  young  princes,  in  which 

the  Pandu  Arjuna,  the  skilled 
bowman  and  the  Hindu  Tell, 
showed  himself  superior  to  all 
the  others,  the  oldest  Pandu- 
prince,  Yudhishthira,  was  in- 
stalled as  heir  apparent.  The 
Kurus,  however,  who  man- 
aged to  remain  in  power,  tried 
to  burn  the  Pandus,  but  they 
escaped  and  lived  for  some 
time  in  the  disguise  of  men- 
dicant Brahmans.  Having  al- 
lied themselves,  by  marriage 
with  Draupadi,"!'  the  daughter 
of  Drupada,  king  of  Panchala, 
with  a  powerful  monarch,  the 
Pandus  reappeared  at  Hastina- 


Krishna. 
As  a  shepherd  lad  playing  the  flute 

[the  flute  is  missing].  (Bronze  statue,  pv^r  and  iuduccd  Dhritarashtra 

Musee  Guimet.)  ■,■     •^ 

to  divide  the  kingdom  between 
his  sons,  the  Kurus,  and  his  nephews,  the  Pandus;  but 
at  a  festival,  held  at  Hastinapur,  Yudhishthira,  the  chief 

*The  Pandus  are  also  called  Pandavas,  and  the  Kurus  Kamavas. 

f  That  the  five  Pandus  held  Draupadi  in  common  as  their  wife,  proves  the  high 
antiquity  of  the  story.  Polyandry  was  apparently  a  practice  not  uncommon  in  an- 
cient times.  It  prevails  still  to-day  among  the  less  cultured  hill  tribes.  But  being 
at  variance  with  the  Aryan  customs  of  the  age  in  which  the  Mahabharata  was  versi- 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


89 


of  the  Pandus,  staked  in  a  game  of  dice  his  kingdom,  all 
his  possessions,  and  Draupadi  herself,  and  lost  every- 
thing. The  Knrns  promised  their  cousins  to  return  their 
share  of  the  kingdom  after  thirteen  years,  if  they  would 
live  twelve  years  with  Draupadi  in  the  forest  and  remain 
another  year  in  exile;  but  when  this  period  had  elapsed 
the  Kurus  refused  to  give  up  the  country  or  any  part  of 


Krishna,  the  Favorite  of  the  Country  Lasses  of  Gokula. 
(Reproduced  from  Coleman.) 

it,  and  thus  the  war  became  una^-oidable.  Then  Dur3'od- 
hana,  the  Kuru  prince,  and  Arjuna,  the  main  hero  of  the 
Pandus,  called  on  Krishna  for  succor  and  assistance. 
Krishna  decided  not  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  fight 
himself,  but  left  to  Arjuna,  whom  he  had  seen  first,  the 

fied,  Vyasa  (the  Homer  or  "  arranger"  of  the  poem,  and  its  supposed  author)  tries 
to  explain  it  allegorically  by  declaring  that  Draupadi  is  Lakshmi,  and  the  five 
Pandu  brothers  represent  five  different  forms  of  one  and  the  same  Indra. 


90 


THE  HISTORY  OK  THE  DEVIL. 


choice  between  his   (Krishna'r)    co":pan3-  as  a  mere  ad- 
viser or  his  (Krishna's)  army  of  a  hnndred  million  war- 


Krishna's  Adventures.     (Reproduced  from  Coleman.) 

riors.  Arjuna  chose  Krishna  himself,  and  left  the  hnn- 
dred million  -warriors  to  his  rivals,  the  Kurns.  The 
two  armies  met  on  the  field  of  Knrnkshetra,  near  Delhi. 


BKAIIMAXISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


91 


During  tlie  battle,  as  we  read  in  tlic  Bhagavadgita, 
Krishna  accompanies  Arjuna  as  his  charioteer  and  ex- 
plains to  him  the  depth  and  breadth  of  the  religious 
philosophy  of  the  Hindus.  The  Pandus  conquer  the 
Kurus,  and  Yudhishthira  becomes  king  of  Hastinapur. 
After  sundry  additional  adventures  the  Pandus  die  and 
go  to  heaven,  where  they  find  that  rest  and  happiness 
which  is  unattainable  on  earth. 


The  Battle  Between  the  Kurus  and  Pandus  on  the  Field  of  Kurukshetra. 
(Reproduced  from  Wilkins.) 

The  Mahabharata,  like  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  shows 
neither  party  in  a  favorable  light;  but  the  epic  is  written 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Pandus,  whose  demeanor  is  al- 
ways extolled,  while  the  Kurus  are  throughout  charac- 
terised as  extremely  unworthy  and  mean. 

Krishna  is  the  Hindu  Apollo,  Orpheus,  and  Hercules 
in  one  person,  and  there  is  no  god  in  the  Hindu  Pan- 
theon who  is  dearer  to  the  Brahman  heart  than  he.   ]\Iany 


92 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DE\IL. 


of  his  adventures,  such  as  his  escape  from  the  Hindu 
Herod,  the  massacre  of  babes,  his  transfiguration,  etc., 
reappear  in  a  modified  form  in  Buddhist  legends  and  bear 
some  resemblance  to  the  events  told  of  Christ  in  the  New 
Testament. 

In  his  ninth  incarnation  Vishnu  appears  as  Buddha, 
the  enlightened  one,  to  be  a  teacher  of  morals,  of  purity, 
charity,  and  compassionate  love  toward  all  beings.     It  is 


Jagannath  With  His  Two  Companions.     (After  SchlagintweiL) 

difficult  to  state  the  differences  between  the  Buddha  ava- 
tar of  the  Brahmans  and  the  Buddha  of  the  Buddhists. 
The  latter,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  was  a  historical  per- 
sonalit}^,  by  the  name  of  Gautama,  the  son  of  Shuddho- 
dana  of  the  warrior  caste,  Avhile  the  former  is  a  mere  ideal 
figure  of  ethical  perfection.  Burnouf  *  proposes  to  regard 
both  as  quite  distinct,  and  he  is  right,  but  we  need  not 
for  that  reason  deny  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the  ideal  of  a 

*  IlisUtiri'  dii  Biiddhismv,  I.,  338. 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


93 


Biiddlia  avatar  was  a  prominent  factor  in  the  formation  of 
Buddhism,  while  on  the  other  hand  Gautama's  teachings 
have,  since  the  rise  of  Buddhism,  powerfully  affected  and 
considerably  modified  the  Buddha  ideal  of  the  Brahmans. 
Whatever  may  be  the  historical  relation  between  the 
Hindu  Buddha  and  the   Buddha  of  the   Buddhists,  this 


Shiva  with  Parvati. 

On  Nanda,  the  sacred  bull  (Mus^e 

Guimet  ) 


Shiva-Trimurti. 
Leaning  on  the   linga,  the  symbol  of 
the  creative  faculty.    (Musee  Guimet.) 


much  is  sure  :  the  Buddha  has  been  received  by  the  Brah- 
mans as  one  of  the  members  of  the  Hindu  Pantheon. 

The  Hindu  deity  that  is  nearest  in  spirit  to  the 
Buddha  avatar  is  Jagannath,  the  god  of  love  and  mercj'. 

The  tenth  avatar  has  not  yet  been  completed.  Vishnu 
is  expected  to  appear  on  a  winged  white  horse  to  reward 
the  virtuous,  convert  the  sinners,  and  destroy  all  evil. 


94 


THE  HISTORY  OK  THE  DEVIL. 


The  horse  has  one  foot  raised,  and  when  it  places  its 
foot  down,  the  time  of  the  incarnation  will  find  its  fulfil- 
ment. 

The  third  person  of  the  Indian  trinit}'  is  Siva,  the 
Auspicious  One,  representing  the  end  of  the  world  and 
its  regeneration.  He  is  commonh'  represented  by  the 
Imga    as    a    symbol   of  the  creative   facult3'  and  hy  the 

all -devouring  fire,  the 
tongued  flame  of  which 
is  pictured  in  a  triangle 
turning  its  point  up- 
wards L. 

Sir  Monier  Monier 
\\'illiams  (in  Bralnuan- 
isiu  and  Hinduisiu ^  p.  6S) 
says  of  this  deity,  which 
is  ''more  mj'stical  and 
less  human  than  the  in- 
carnated Vishnu,"  that 
shina  La.n^i.ng  surkul.;,^l.,  ..■a  Halo  of  his  .symbol,  the  Huga,  is 

Flames.   (Bronze  Statue.   Musee  Guimet.)       ,,  .         ,  .      ..        ^ 

never  m  the  mmd  of  a 
Saiva  (or  Siva-worshipper)  connected  with  indecent  ideas, 
nor  with  sexual  love."  The  linga,  or,  as  the  Romans 
called  it,  the  phallus,  the  male  organ  of  generation,  be- 
comes at  the  first  dawn  of  civilisation,  almost  among  all 
the  nations  of  the  world,  an  object  of  great  awe  and  rev- 
erence. As  the  sj-mbol  of  the  creative  principle  it  is  re- 
garded as  the  most  essential  attribute  of  both  the  God- 
Creator  himself  and  all  those  who  hold  authority  in  his 
name.  The  linga  develops  in  the  hand  of  the  medicine 
man  into  a  wand,*in  the  hand  of  the  priest  into  a  staff, 


■Tc..     * 


'■^^ii 


^^.^~:nM:£Ll 


The  Buddha  Avatar  or  Vishnu's  In- 
carnation AS  THE  Enlightened 
Teacher  of  Mankind. 


The  Kai.ki  Avatar  or  the  White 
Horse  Incarnation. 


Siva  Worship.     (Reproduced  from  Picart.) 


96 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


and  in  tte  hand  of  the  king  into  a  sceptre.  The  yoni,  or 
female  organ,  is  regarded  as  the  symbol  of  Siva's  con- 
sort, Parvati,  and  is  worshipped  in  connexion  with  the 
linga  by  the  sect  of  the  Sactis.  Perforated  rocks  are  con- 
sidered as  emblems  of  the  3'oni,  through  which  pilgrims 
pass  for  the  purpose  of  being  regenerated,  a  ceremony  in 
which  Hindus  place  great  faith  for  its  sin-expelling  sig- 
nificance. (See  Charles  Coleman,  The  Mythology  of  the 
Hindus^  p.  175.) 


Siva  and  Parvati.      (Reproduced  from  Hermann  Goll  ) 

Siva's  consort,  Kali,  is  one  of  the  greatest  divinities 
of  India.  She  is  the  goddess  of  a  hundred  names,  repre- 
senting not  only  the  power  of  nature,  but  also  the  ruth- 
less cruelty  of  nature's  laws.  She  is  called  Parvati,  the 
blessed  mother,  and  Durga,  which  means  "hard  to  go 
through,"  symbolising  war  and  all  kinds  of  danger.  She 
is  in  the  pantheon  of  modern  Hinduism  the  central  fig- 
ure ;   and  in  spite  of  the  universality  of  Brahma  in  philo- 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM.  97 

sophical   speculations,   in   spite  of   the  omnipresence  of 
Vishnu  and  his  constant  reincarnations  as  told  in  ancient 


Kali 
After  an  Indian  picture.      (Reproduced  from  Schlagintweit.) 

myths  and  legends,  in  spite  of  the  omnipotence  of  Siva, 
and  the  high  place  given  him  in  Hindu  dogmatology,  she 


98 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


is  the  main  recipient  of  Hindu  Avorsiiip  all  over  the  coun- 
try. As  Kali  she  is  identified  with  time,  the  all-devourer, 
and  is  pictured  as   enjoying  destruction,  perdition,   and 


DURGA. 

Indian  sculpture.     (Reproduced  from  Schlagintweit.) 

murder  in  any  form,  trampling  under  foot  even  her  own 
husband.  There  is  scarcely  a  village  without  a  temple 
devoted  to  her,  and  her  images  can  be  seen  in  thousands 
of  forms.    Her  appearance  is  pleasant  only  as  Pavarti ;   in 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


99 


all  other  shapes  she  is  frightful,  and  it  is  difBcult  to  un- 
derstand the  reverence  Avhicli   tlic  pious  Hindu   cherishes 


mKha'  sGroma,  the  Tibetan  Kali       Bronze.      (Musee  Guimet.) 

for  this  most  diabolical  deity,  who  among  the  Buddhists 
of  Thibet  is  changed  into  a  devilish  demon  under  the 
name  of  niKha'sGroma. 


100 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


The  Pantheism  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole 
Hindu  mythology  finds  expression  in  the  worship  of 
HariHara,  who  is  a  combination  of  Vishnu  and  Siva.    In 


Kali-Durga  in  the  Hindu  PantheoN-     (Reproduced  from  Wilkins.) 

the  Mahatmya,  or  collection  of  temple  legends  of  the  Hari- 
Hara, a  town  in  the  province  of  Mysore,  Isvara  says:'"" 


*The  legends  of  the  shrine  of  HariHara,  translated  from  the  Sanskrit  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Foulkes. 


BRAHMANISM  AND  HINDUISM. 


101 


"There  are  heretics  among  men  who  reject  the  Vedas  and  the 
Shastras,  who  live  without  purificatory  cenmonies  and  estabHshed 
rules  of  conduct,  and  are  filled  with  hatred  of  \'ishnu  :  so  also 
there  are  heretical  followers  of  Vishnu,  who  are  similarly  filled 
with  hatred  of  Shiva.  All  these  wicked  men  shall  go  to  hell  so  long 
as  this  world  endures.  I  will  not  receive  worship  from  any  man 
who  makes  a  distinction  between  Vasudeva  and  my  own  divinity  : 
I  will  divide  every  such  man  in  two  with  my  saw.  For  I  have  as- 
sumed the  form  of  HariHara  in  order  to  destroy  the  teaching  that 

there  is  a  difference  between  us  ; 
and  he  wlio  knows  within  him- 
self that  HariHara  is  the  god  of 
gods,  shall  inherit  the  highest 
heaven." 

HariHara  is  depicted 
as  a  combination  of  the  two 
gods  in  one  fignre,  wliich 
is  half  male  and  half  fe- 
male, for  according  to  the 
Southern  version  of  the 
legend  Vishnu  assumed  the 
form  of  a  beautiful  woman 
who  was  embraced  so  fer- 
vently by  Siva  that  both 
beca;me  one. 

There  are  in  Hindu  mythology  innumerable  other 
deities,  among  whom  Indra,  the  thunder-god,  is  the 
greatest,  as  the  hero  among  the  gods  of  secondar3'  rank, 
reminding  us  of  the  Thor  of  the  Norsemen ;  but  Varuna, 
the  Hindu  Kronos,  Agni  the  god  of  fire,  have  also  at 
times  been  very  prominent. 

There  are  in  addition  gods  of  third  degree,  such  as 


HariHara. 
(Reproduced  from  Wilkins.) 


102 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Ganesa.    (Reproduced  from  Wilkins.) 


Agni.  (Reproduced  from  Hermann. 
Goll.) 


Kama. 

(Reproduced  from  Wollheim  da 

Fonceka.) 


Siva  Slaying  a  Demon. 
(Reproduced  from  Wilkins.) 


BRAPIMANISM  AND  HINDUISM.  103 

Kama,  the  Hindu  Amor,  Ganesa,  the  elephant-headed 
god  of  wisdom,*  and  Karttikeya,t  the  leader  of  the  good 
demons,  on  the  peacock,  both  sons  of  Siva,  and  others. 
In  addition,  we  have  a  great  number  of  devas,  sprites, 
and  goblins.  Some  of  them  are  good,  as  the  Gandliar- 
vas,  others  at  least  not  naturally  ill-intentioned,  as  for 
instance  the  Apsaras  (a  kind  of  Hindu  elves) ,  but  most 
of  them  are  dangerous  and  demoniacal.  Such  are  the  gen- 
eral mischief-makers,  the  Asuras,  the  Pretas,  or  ghosts, 
the  Bhutas,  or  spook-spirits,  the  baby-killing  Grahas,  the 
Rakshasas,  who  are  either  giants  or  vampires,  not  to 
mention  all  the  other  demons  of  less  power  and  impor- 
tance. 

*  Ganesa,  which  means  the  lord  (tsa)  of  hosts  (gaiia),  is  originally  Siva  him- 
self, and  he  was  invoked  under  that  name  by  writers  of  books  to  drive  away  evil 
demons.  ;j^**Vt,j^ 

f  Karttikeya  is  also  called  Subrahmanya  and  Skanda. 


V 


BUDDHISM. 


BUDDHISM  is  a  religious  revolution  against  the 
evils  tliat  are  dominant  in  Brahmanism.  Gautama 
Shakyamuni,  who  claimed  to  be  the  Enlightened  One, 
the  Buddha,  rejected  bloody  sacrifices,  the  authority  of 
the  Vedas,  trust  in  rituals  and  the  caste  system,  and 
taught  a  religion  of  moral  endeavor  which  was  to  be  ob- 
tained by  enlightenment,  or  the  bodhi.  He  recognised 
the  existence  of  evil  and  sought  salvation  in  the  radical 
abolition  of  all  selfishness  through  the  extension  of  an 
all-comprehensive  love  toward  all  creatures. 

The  man3-sidedness  of  Buddhism  is  well  illustrated 
in  the  Buddhistic  conception  of  evil  and  of  a  final  escape 
from  evil,  which  is  taught  to  the  thinker  in  the  shape  of 
a  philosophy,  and  to  the  uneducated  masses  in  the  garb 
of  a  poetical  myth,  affording  the  artist  a  good  opportunity 
for  representing  deep  thoughts  in  allegorical  form. 

Mara.,  tlic  Evil  One. 

Evil  is  personified  in  Mara,  the  Buddhist  Devil,  who 
represents  temptation,  sin,  and  death.  He  is  identified 
with  Namuche,  one  of  the  wicked  demons  in  Indian  myth- 


BUDDHISM.  105 

ology  with  whom  Indra  strug.2:les.  Namuche  is  the  mis- 
chievous spirit  who  prevents  rain  and  produces  drought. 
The  name  Namuche  means  "  not  letting  go  the  waters." 
However,  Indra,  the  god  of  thunder-storms,  forces  him 
to  surrender  the  fertilising  liquids  and  restores  the  life- 
bringing  element  to  the  earth. 

Mara  is  also  called  Papiyan*  the  Wicked  One  or  the 
Evil  One,  the  Murderer,  the  Tempter.  In  addition  he  is 
said  to  be  Varsavarti,t  meaning  "he  who  fulfils  desires." 
Varsavarti,  indeed,  is  one  of  his  favorite  names.  In  his 
capacity  as  Varsavarti,  Mara  personifies  the  fulfilment  of 
desire  or  the  triple  thirst, J  viz.,  the  thirst  for  existence, 
the  thirst  for  pleasure,  the  thirst  for  power.  He  is  the 
king  of  the  Heaven  of  sensual  delight. 

There  is  a  deep  truth  in  this  conception  of  Mai^a  as 
Varsavarti.  It  means  that  the  selfishness  of  man  is  Satan 
and  the  actual  satisfaction  of  selfishness  is  Hell. 

This  reminds  us  of  one  of  Leander's  Marclien^  in 
which  we  are  told  that  once  a  man  died  and  awoke  in  the 
other  world.  There  St.  Peter  appeared  before  him  and 
asked  him  what  he  wanted.  He  then  ordered  breakfast, 
the  daily  papers,  and  all  the  comforts  he  was  accustomed 
to  in  life,  and  this  kind  of  life  lasted  for  many  centuries 
until  he  got  sick  of  it  and  began  to  swear  at  St.  Peter 
and  to  complain  of  how  monotonous  it  was  in  Heaven, 
whereupon  St.  Peter  informed  him  that  he  was  in  Hell, 

* Pafiyaji  means  "more  or  very  wicked"  ;  it  is  the  comparative  form  of  the 
Sanskrit,  papin,  wicked. 

\  Varsavarti  is  Sanskrit.  The  Pali  form  is  Vasavatti,  derived  from  vasa, 
wish,  desire.  Childers  explains  the  word  as  "bringing  into  subjection."  Mara  is 
also  called  Paranimmita  Vasavatti,  which  means  '"bringing  into  subjection  that 
which  is  created  by  others." 

\  Pali,  tanha;  Sanskrit,  trishna. 


106 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


for  hell  is  where  everybody  has  his  own  sweet  will,  and 
heaven  is  where  everybody  follows  God's  will  alone. 
Similarly,  according  to  the  Buddhist  conception,  the 
heaven  of  sensual  delight  is  hell,  the  habitation  of  the 
Evil  One. 


The  Demon  of  Lightning.     A  Japanese  temple  statue. 

In  the  Dhammapada,  Mara  is  not  so  much  a  person 
as  a  personification.  The  allegorical  nature  of  the  Evil 
One  is  plainlj-  felt  in  every  passage  in  which  Alara's 
name  occurs.     We  read,  for  instance  : 

"He  who  lives  looking  for  pleasures  onl)',  his  senses  uncon- 


BUDDHISM. 


107 


trolled,  immoderate  in  his  food,  idle  and  weak,  him   Mara  will  cer- 
tainly overthrow  as  the  wind  throws  down  a  feeble  tree." 


Buddhism  in  its  original  and  orthodox  purity  knows 
nothing  of  devils  except  Mara,  representing  the  egotisti- 
cal  pleasures,  sensuality,  sin,  and   death;  but   Buddhist 


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The  Demon  of  Thunder.     A  Japanese  temple  statue. 

mythology  from  the  ancient  Jatakas  down  to  the  most 
modern  folklore  of  China  and  Japan  has  peopled  the  uni- 
verse with  evil  spirits  of  all  kinds,  such  as  the  demons  of 
thunder  and  lightning,  to  personify  the  various  ills  of 
life  and  the  dangers  that  lurk  everywhere  in  nature. 


108  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

While  the  evil  consequences  of  sin  are  depicted  in  the 
tortures  of  Hell  which  are  similar  to  the  Christian  belief, 
the  final  escape  from  evil  is  expressed  in  the  belief  that  all 
good  Buddhists  will  be  reborn  in  the  Western  Paradise. 

Mara^  the  Enemy  of  Buddha. 

In  the  life  of  Buddha,  Mara  plays  an  important  part. 
He  is  that  principle  which  forms  an  obstacle  to  the  at- 
tainment of  Buddhahood.  Having  told  how,  in  the  night 
of  the  great  renunciation,  the  deity  of  the  door  swung 
the  gate  open  to  let  the  future  Buddha  out,  the  Jataka 
continues : 

"At  that  moment  Mara  came  there  with  the  intention  of  stop- 
ping the  Bodisat ;  and  standing  in  the  air,  he  exclaimed,  'Depart 
not,  O  my  lord  !  in  seven  days  from  now  the  wheel  of  empire  will 
appear,  and  will  make  you  sovereign  over  the  four  continents  and 
the  two  thousand  adjacent  isles.      Stop,  O  my  lord  !  " 

The  prince  refused  to  listen  to  IMara's  wily  insinua- 
tion. 

When  Buddha,  in  his  search  for  enlightenment,  had 
tried  for  seven  years  to  find  the  right  path  in  asceticism 
and  self-mortification,  his  health  began  to  give  way  and 
he  was  shrunken  like  a  withered  branch.  At  this  mo- 
ment Mara  drew  near  and  suggested  to  him  the  thought 
of  giving  up  his  search  for  enlightenment.  We  read  in 
the  Padhana  Sutta:* 

"Came  Namuche  speaking  words  full  of  compassion:  'Thou 
art  lean,  ill-favored,  death  is  in  thy  neighborhood.  Living  life,  O 
thou  Venerable  One,  is  better  !  Living,  thou  wilt  be  able  to  do 
good  works.  Difficult  is  the  way  of  exertion,  difficult  to  pass,  diffi- 
cult to  enter  upon.' 

*  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  X..  second  part,  pp.  69-71 


BUDDHISM.  109 

"To  Mara,  thus  speaking,  Bhagavat  said:  'O  thou  friend  of 
the  indolent,  thou  wicked  one,  for  what  purpose  hast  thou  come 
here?  Even  the  least  good  work  is  of  no  use  to  me,  and  what  good 
works  are  required  ought  Mara  to  tell?  I  have  faith  and  power; 
and  understanding  is  found  in  me.  While  thus  exerting  myself, 
why  do  you  ask  me  to  live?  While  the  flesh  is  wasting  away  the 
mind  grows  more  tranquil,  and  my  attention,  understanding,  and 
meditation  becomes  more  steadfast.  Living  thus,  my  mind  does 
not  look  for  sensual  pleasures.      Behold  a  being's  purity ! 

"Lust  thy  first  army  is  called;  discontent  thy  second;  thy 
third  is  called  hunger  and  thirst ;  thy  fourth  desire ;  thy  fifth  is 
called  sloth  and  drowsiness;  thy  sixth  cowardice;  thy  seventh 
doubt ;  thy  eighth  hypocrisy  and  stupor,  gain,  fame,  honor,  and 
what  celebrity  is  falsely  obtained  by  him  who  exalts  himself  and 
despises  others.  This,  O  Namuche,  is  thine,  the  Black  One's 
fighting  army.  None  but  a  hero  conquers  it,  and  whoever  conquers 
it  obtains  joy.  Woe  upon  life  in  this  world!  Death  in  battle  is 
better  for  me  than  that  I  should  live  defeated. 

"Seeing  on  all  sides  an  army  arrayed  and  Mara  on  his  elephant, 
I  am  going  out  to  do  battle  that  he  may  not  drive  me  from  my 
place.  This  army  of  thine,  which  the  world  of  men  and  gods  can- 
not conquer,  I  will  crush  with  understanding,  as  one  crushes  an 
unbaked  earthen  pot  with  a  stone. 

"Having  made  my  thoughts  subject  to  me  and  my  attention 
firm,  I  shall  wander  about  from  kingdom  to  kingdom  training  dis- 
ciples. They  will  be  zealous  and  energetic,  obedient  to  the  discip- 
line of  one  free  from  lust,  and  they  will  go  to  the  place  where  there 
is  no  mourning. 

"And  Mara  said:  'For  seven  years  I  followed  Bhagavat,  step 
by  step,  but  found  no  fault  in  the  Perfectly  Enlightened  and 
Thoughtful  One.'" 

When  Buddha  went  to  the  Bo-tree  Mara,  the  Evil 
One,  proposed  to  shake  his  resolution,  either  through  the 
allurements  of  his  daughters  or  bj^  force.     "He  sounded 


Mara's  Army. 
Gandhara  sculptures.      Museum  of  Lahore.      (Reproduced  from  Griinwedel.) 


BUDDHISM.  Ill 

the  war  crj'  aud  drew  out  for  battle."  The  earth  quaked, 
when  Mara,  mounted  on  his  elephant,  approached  the 
Buddha.  The  gods,  among  them  Sakka,  the  king  of  the 
gods,  and  Brahma,  tried  to  stay  Mara's  army,  but  none 
of  them  was  able  to  stand  his  ground,  and  each  i!ed 
straight  before  him.     Buddha  said: 

"  '  Here  is  this  multitude  exerting  all  their  strength  and  power 
against  me  alone.  My  mother  and  father  are  not  here,  nor  a 
brother,  nor  any  other  relative.  But  I  have  these  Ten  Perfections, 
like  old  retainers  long  cherished  at  my  board.  It  therefore  be- 
hooves me  to  make  the  Ten  Perfections  my  shield  and  my  sword, 
and  to  strike  a  blow  with  them  that  shall  destroy  this  strong  array.' 
And  he  remained  sitting  and  reflected  on  the  Ten  Perfections." — 
Buddhism  in  Translations.      By  H.  C.  Warren,  pp.  77-78. 

Mara  caused  a  whirlwind  to  blow,  but  in  vain  ;  he 
caused  a  rain-storm  to  come  in  order  to  drown  the  Bud- 
dha, but  not  a  drop  wetted  his  robes ;  he  caused  a  shower 
of  rocks  to  come  down,  but  the  rocks  changed  into  bou- 
quets;  he  caused  a  shower  of  weapons — swords,  spears, 
and  arrows — to  rush  against  him,  but  they  became  celes- 
tial flowers ;  he  caused  a  shower  of  live  coals  to  come 
down  from  the  sky,  but  they,  too,  fell  down  harmless. 
In  the  same  way  hot  ashes,  a  shower  of  sand,  and  a 
shower  ©f  mud  were  transmuted  into  celestial  ointments. 
At  last  he  caused  a  darkness,  but  the  darkness  dis- 
appeared before  Buddha,  as  the  night  vanishes  before 
the  sun.  Mara  shouted:  "Siddhattha,  arise  from  the 
seat.  It  does  not  belong  to  you.  It  belongs  to  me." 
Buddha  replied:  ''Mara,  you  have  not  fulfilled  the  ten 
perfections.  This  seat  does  not  belong  to  you,  but  to 
me,  who  have  fulfilled  the  ten  perfections."    Mara  denied 


112  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Buddha's  assertion  and  called  upon  his  array  as  wit- 
nesses, while  Buddha  declared:  "I  have  no  animate 
witnesses  present;"  but,  stretching  out  his  right  hand 
towards  the  mighty  earth,  he  said:  "Will  you  bear  me 
witness?"  And  the  mighty  earth  thundered:  "I  bear 
you  witness."  And  Mara's  elephant  fell  upon  its  knees, 
and  all  the  followers  of  Mara  fled  away  in  all  directions. 
When  the  hosts  of  the  gods  saw  the  army  of  Mara  flee, 
they  cried  out:  "Mara  is  defeated!  Prince  Siddhattha 
has  conquered !     Let  us  celebrate  the  victory  ! ' ' 

When  Buddha  had  attained  enlightenment,  Mara 
tempted  him  once  more,  saying: 

"Pass  away  now,  Lord,  from  existence!  Let  the  Blessed  One 
now  die!     Now  is  the  time  for  the  Blessed  One  to  pass  away!" 

Buddha  made  reply  as  follows : 

"I  shall  not  die,  O  Evil  One!  until  not  only  the  brethren  and 
sisters  of  the  order,  but  also  the  lay-disciples  of  either  sex  shall 
have  become  true  hearers,  wise  and  well  trained,  ready  and  learned, 
versed  in  the  Scriptures,  fulfilling  all  the  greater  and  the  lesser 
duties,  correct  in  life,  walking  according  to  the  precepts, — until 
they,  having  thus  themselves  learned  the  doctrine,  shall  be  able  to 
tell  others  of  it,  preach  it,  make  it  known,  establish  it,  open  it, 
minutely  explain  it  and  make  it  clear, — until  they,  when  others 
start  vain  doctrines,  shall  be  able  by  the  truth  to  vanquish  and  re- 
fute it,  and  so  to  spread  the  wonder-working  truth  abroad! 

"I  shall  not  die  until  this  pure  religion  of  mine  shall  have  be- 
come successful,  prosperous,  wide-spread,  and  popular  in  all  its 
full  extent,  until,  in  a  word,  it  shall  have  been  well  proclaimed 
among  men! " 

When,  shortly  before  Buddha's  death,  Mara  repeated 
his  words  as  quoted  above,  "Pass  away  now,  Lord,  from 
existence,"  Buddha  answered: 


BUDDHISM.  113 

"Make  thyself  happy;  the  final  extinction  of  the  Tathagata 
shall  take  place  before  long." 

Mara  in  Buddhist  Art. 
In  tlie  various  sculptures  representing  scenes  of 
Buddha's  life  there  is  a  figure  holding  in  his  hand  a  kind 
of  double  club  or  vajra — i.  e.,  thunderbolt,  as  it  is  usually- 
called.  Since  the  expression  of  this  man  with  the  thun- 
derbolt decidedly  shows  malevolence,  the  interpretation 
naturally  suggested  itself  that  he  must  be  one  of  Bud- 
dha's disciples  who  was  antagonistic  to  his  teachings. 
The  common  explanation  of  this  figure,  accordingly,  des- 
ignated him  as  Devadatta,  the  Buddhistic  Judas  Iscariot, 
who  endeavored  to  found  a  sect  of  his  own,  and  who  ac- 
cording to  Buddhistic  legends  is  represented  as  an  in- 
triguer bent  on  the  murder  of  Buddha.  The  various 
representations  of  this  figure,  however,  are  not  altogether 
those  of  a  disciple  who  tries  to  outdo  Buddha  in  stern- 
ness and  severity  of  discipline,  but  frequently  bear  the 
character  of  a  Greek  faun,  and  resemble,  rather,  Silenus, 
the  foster-father  of  Bacchus,  representing  all  kinds  of  ex- 
cesses in  carousing  and  other  pleasures.  Moreover,  the 
same  figure  with  the  thunderbolt  appears  in  representa- 
tions of  Buddha's  entering  Nirvana,  at  a  time  when  De- 
vadatta had  been  long  dead.  Alfred  Griiuwedel,  for  these 
reasons,  proposes  to  abandon  the  traditional  interpreta- 
tion of  the  thunderbolt-bearer  as  Devadatta,  and  it  ap- 
pears that  he  has  found  the  right  interpretation  when  he 

says:* 

"This  figure  which  accompanies  Buddha  from  the  moment  he 
leaves  his  father's  house  until  he  enters  Nirvana,  and  who  waylays 
* Buddhistische  A'ttnst  in  Iridifn.     Berlin  :   Speman,  p.  87. 


114 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


him  in  the  hope  of  awakening  in  him  a  thought  of  lust  or  hatred  or 
envy,  who  follows  him  like  a  shadow,  can  be  no  one  but  Mara 
Papiyan,  the  Wicked  One,  the  demon  of  passion.  The  thunder- 
bolt in  Mara's  hand  is  nothing  but  the  old  attribute  of  all  Indian 
gods.  In  his  capacity  as  the  god  of  pleasure,  Mara  is  especially 
entitled  to  this  attribute  of  the  Hindu  gods.  As  Vasavatti  he  reigns 
in  the  highest  domain  of  the  pleasure  heaven,  surrounded  by  dan- 
cing girls  and  musicians." 


Buddha,  Tempted  by  Mara's  Daughters. 
Gandhara  sculptures.      (Reproduced  from  Griinwedel.) 

It  seeiiLS  probable  that  the  contra.st  in  which  Alara  or 
Varsavarti  .stands  to  the  Buddha  began  b^-  and  b}-  to  be 
misunderstood.  For  the  thunderbolt-bearer  Vajrapani  is 
graduall}'  changed  into  a  regular  attendant  of  Buddha, 
and  the  Vajra,  or  thunderbolt,  is  now  interpreted  as  an 
attribute  of  Buddha  himself.  Thus  it  happened  that 
among  the  northern  Buddhists  the  Vajra  became  the  in- 


BUDDHISM.  115 

dispensable  attribute  of  tlie  lamas.     It  is  called  Dorje  in 
Tibet  and  Ojir  in  Mongolia. 

Tlie  attack  of  IMara  upon  Buddha  under  the  bo-tree 
is  a  favorite  subject  of  Buddhist  artists,  who  gladly  avail 
themselves  of  this  opportunity  to  show  their  ingenuity  in 
devising  all  kinds  of  beautiful  and  hideous  shapes.  Beau- 
tiful women  represent  the  temptations  of  the  daughters 
of  Mara,  and  the  hideous  monsters  describe  the  terrors  of 
Mara's  army. 

In  Buddhistic  mythology  Mara,  the  Evil  One,  is,  in 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  Buddha's  teachings,  repre- 
sented as  the  Prince  of  the  World.  It  is  Mara  who  holds 
the  wheel  of  life  and  death  {Chavachakra^  i.  e.,  wheel  of 
becoming)  in  his  hands,  for  all  living  beings  reside  in 
the  domain  of  death.  The  hand  of  death  is  upon  every 
one  who  is  born.  He  is  the  ruler  in  the  domains  of  the 
nidanas,  the  twelve  links  of  the  chain  of  causation,  or  de- 
pendent origination. 

T/ie   Tivclve  Nidanas. 

The  twelve  nidanas  are  a  very  old  doctrine,  which 
possibly  goes  back  to  Buddha  himself,  and  may  contain 
elements  that  are  older.  While  the  general  meaning  of 
the  chain  of  causation  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  first  and 
last  links,  which  imply  that  ignorance,  not-knowing,  or 
infatuation  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  evil,  there  are  great 
difficulties  in  the  interpretation  of  the  details,  and  Vlx. 
Warren  thinks  that  it  is  a  combination  of  two  chains  of 
causation  representing  similar  thoughts.      He  says: 


116  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"The  Buddhist  Sacred  Books  seem  to  claim  Dependent  Orig- 
ination as  the  peculiar  discovery  of  the  Buddha,  and  I  suppose 
they  would  have  us  understand  that  he  invented  the  whole  formula 
from  beginning  to  end.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  formula 
repeats  itself,  that  the  human  being  is  brought  into  existence  twice 
— the  first  time  under  the  name  of  consciousness,  and  name  and 
form  and  by  means  of  ignorance  and  karma,  the  second  time  in 
birth  and  by  means  of  desire  (with  its  four  branches  called  attach- 
ments) and  karma  again,  this  time  called  existence.*  Therefore, 
though  Buddhaghosa  is  at  great  pains  to  explain  this  repetition  as 
purposely  intended  for  practical  ends,  yet  one  is  much  inclined  to 
surmise  that  the  full  formula  in  its  present  shape  is  a  piece  of 
patchwork  put  together  of  two  or  more  that  were  current  in  the 
Buddha's  time  and  by  him — perhaps  expanded,  perhaps  contracted, 
but  at  any  rate  made  into  one.  If  the  Buddha  added  to  the  form- 
ula of  Dependent  Origination,  it  would  appear  that  the  addition 
consisted  in  the  first  two  propositions.  For  ignorance,  of  course, 
is  the  opposite  of  wisdom,  and  wisdom  is  the  method  for  getting 
rid  of  ignorance." — Buddhism  in  Translations,  p.  115. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  original  wording,  the 
traditional  formula  of  the  causation  of  evil  has  been, 
without  change,  faithfully  preserved  in  the  triumphal 
progress  of  Buddhism  from  India  to  Japan.  One  of  the 
oldest  passages  in  which  the  twelve  nidanas  are  enume- 
rated is  found  in  the  Questions  of  King  Miliiida.,  p.  79, 
where  we  read : 

"By  reason  of  ignorance  came  the  Confections,!  by  reason  of 
the  Confections  consciousness,  by  reason  of  consciousness  name- 
and-form,  by  reason  of  name-and-form  the  six  organs  of  sense,  by 
reason  of  them  contact,  by  reason  of  contact  sensation,  by  reason 

♦The  Visudhi  Magga  declares  karraa-existence  is  equivalent  to  existence. 
I  Confection  is  a  bad  translation  of  Sankhara.  formation  or  deed-form.     See 
'/he  Dhayma.  pp.  16-18. 


BUDDHISM.  117 

of  sensation  thirst,  by  reason  of  thirst  craving,  by  reason  of  craving 
becoming,  by  reason  of  becoming  birth,  by  reason  of  birth  old  age 
and  death,  grief,  lamentation,  sorrow,  pain,  and  despair.  Thus  is 
it  that  the  ultimate  point  in  the  past  of  all  this  time  is  not  ap- 
parent."— Translated  by  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids  in  Sacred  Books  of  the 
East,  Vol.  XXXV. 

The  Samyutta  Nikaya  enumerates  as  tlie  second 
nidana  "karma,"  i.  e.,  action.     The  passage  reads: 

"  On  ignorance  depends  karma  ; 

"On  karma  depends  consciousness  ; 

"On  consciousness  depend  name  and  form  ; 

"On  name  and  form  depend  the  six  organs  of  sense; 

"  On  the  six  organs  of  sense  depends  contact ; 

"On  contact  depends  sensation  ; 

•'  On  sensation  depends  desire  ; 

"On  desire  depends  attachment; 

"On  attachment  depends  existence; 

"On  existence  depends  birth  ; 

"On  birth  depend  old  age  and  death,  sorrow,  lamentation, 
misery,  grief,  and  despair.  Thus  does  this  entire  aggregation  of 
misery  arise. 

"But  on  the  complete  fading  out  and  cessation  of  ignorance 
ceases  karma  ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  karma  ceases  consciousness  ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  consciousness  ceases  name  and  form  ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  name  and  form  cease  the  six  organs  of 
sense  ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  the  six  organs  of  sense  ceases  contact; 

"On  the  cessation  of  contact  ceases  sensation  ; 

"  On  the  cessation  of  sensation  ceases  desire  ; 

"  On  the  cessation  of  desire  ceases  attachment  ; 

"  On  the  cessation  of  attachment  ceases  existence  ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  existence  ceases  birth  ; 

"  On  the  cessation  of  birth  cease  old   age  and   death,  sorrow. 


118  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

lamentation,  misery,  grief,  and  despair.  Thus  does  this  entire 
aggregation  of  misery  cease." — Buddhism  in  Translations,  Warren, 
p.  1 66. 

The  Pali  terms  are:  (l)  avijja  (ignorance),  (2) 
sankhara  (organised  formation)  or  kaninia  (Karma) ,  (3) 
vinnyaua  (sentiencj^) ,  (4)  naiiia-rupa  (name  and  form, 
i.  e.,  individuality),  (5)  salayataiia  (the  six  fields,  i.  e., 
the  five  senses  and  mind) ,  (6)  phasso  (contact) ,  (7)  ve- 
dana  (sensation),  (8)  tanha  (thirst),  (9)  7tpadana  (crav- 
ing), (10)  bliava  (growth),  (11)  y(7/z'  (birth) ,  {Yl)  jara- 
marana^  etc.  (old  age,  death,  sorrow,  etc.). 

It  seems  that  we  have  three  chains  of  causation 
combined  into  one.  One  chain  explains  that  Karma, 
i.  e.,  deed  or  activity,  produces  first  vinnyaua  (sentiency) , 
and  then  nama-riipa  (name  and  form,  or  personality)  ; 
the  other  begins  with  sensation,  as  known  in  the  six 
senses  or  sa /ay  a  tana.,  which  by  contact  {phasso)  produces 
first  consciousness  {vedana)  and  then  thirst  {tanha). 
The  third  group,  which  may  be  the  peculiarly  Buddhistic 
addition  to  the  two  older  formulas,  is  founded  in  the  first, 
or  first  and  second,  and  the  four  concluding  links  of  the 
traditional  chain,  stating  that  ignorance  {a:7)ja)  pro- 
duces blindl}'  in  its  random  work  organisations  {sankha- 
ras) .  These  sankharas  or  elementary  organisms  are  pos- 
sessed of  craving  {npadana) ,  which  leads  to  conception 
{bhaz'a)  and  birth  {jati) ,  thus  producing  old  age,  death, 
sorrow,  and  misery  of  any  kind. 

The   Wheel  of  Life. 
Life  in  its  eternal  rotation  is  represented  in  Buddhist 
mythology  as  a  wheel  that  is  held  in  the  clutches  of  the 
Evil  One. 


BUDDHISM. 


119 


Judging  from  a  communication  of  Caroline  A.  Foley 
(in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society ^  1894,  p. 
389) ,  the  allegory  of  the  world-wheel,  the  wheel  of  life, 


An  Indian  Wheel  of  Life. 

Preserved  in  the  Cave  Temples  of  Ajanta,  Central  India. 

(Reproduced  from  L.  E.  Waddell's  picture  in  the  J.  R.  A.  S.) 

must  be  much  older  than  is  commonly  thought,  for  it  is 
mentioned  already  in  the  Dizyavadana,  pp.  299-300. 
Caroline  Foley  says : 


120  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"There  it  is  related  how  Buddha  instructed  Ananda  to  make 
a  wheel  {cakram  karayiiavyani)  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  what 
another  disciple,  Maudgalyayana,  saw  when  he  visited  other 
spheres,  which  it  seems  he  was  in  the  habit  of  doing.  The  wheel 
was  to  have  five  spokes  {pancagandakavi),  between  which  were  to  be 
depicted  the  hells,  animals,  pretas,  gods,  and  men.  In  the  middle 
a  dove,  a  serpent,  and  a  hog,  were  to  symbolise  lust,  hatred,  and 
ignorance.  All  round  the  tire  was  to  go  the  twelve-fold  circle  of 
causation  (^pratityasamutpado)  in  the  regular  and  in  the  inverse  or- 
der. Beings  were  to  be  represented  '  as  being  born  in  a  super- 
natural way  (aupapadiikah),  as  by  the  machinery  of  a  waterwheel, 
falling  from  one  state  and  being  produced  in  another.'  The  wheel 
was  made  and  placed  in  the  'grand  entrance  gateway'  {dvara- 
kosh/ake),  and  a  bhikshu  appointed  to  interpret  it." 

Samsara,  or  the  circuit  of  life,  the  eternal  round  of 
birth,  death,  and  rebirth,  as  summarily  expressed  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  twelve  nidanas  or  twelve-linked  chain  of 
causation,  is  painted  around  the  tire  of  the  wheel. 

How  carefully  the  Buddhistic  conception  of  Mara, 
as  the  Prince  of  the  world,  holding  in  his  clutches  the 
wheel  of  life,  has  been  preserved,  we  can  learn  from  a 
comparison  of  an  old  fresco  in  the  deserted  caves  of 
Ajanta,  Central  India,*  with  Tibetan  and  Japanese  pic- 
tures of  the  same  subject. t  All  of  them  show  in  the 
centre  the  three  causes  of  selfhood,  viz.,  hatred,  spite,  and 
sloth,  symbolised  in  a  serpent,  a  cock,  and  a  pig.  They 
are  also  called  the  three  fires,  or  the  three  roots  of  evil, 
which  are  rag-a  (passion) ,  doso  (sin) ,  7noho  (infatuation) . 

*  Described  by  L.  A.  Waddell,  M.  B.,  M.  R.  A.  8.,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  April,  1894.  Luxuriously  reprpduced  in  colors  on  Plate  8,  Vol.  I., 
of  The  Paintings  in  the  Rtiddhist  Cave-  Temples  of  Ajayita,  by  John  GriflSths. 
London,  Griggs,  1896. 

f  The  Tibetan  and  Japanese  pictures  are  explained  by  Professor  Bastian  in  his 
Ethnologisches  Bilderbiich . 


BUDDHISM. 


12] 


The  Hindu  picture  exhibits  six  divisions, — the  realm  of 
gods,  the  realm  of  men,  the  realm  of  nagas  (or  snakes)  ,* 


A  Tibetan  Wheel  of  Life.     (Reproduced  from  Bastian.) 


*We  must  remember  that  in  some  parts  of  India  the  serpent  is  the  symbol  of 
perfection  and  wisdom, — a  belief  which  was  adopted  by  the  Ophites,  a  gnostic  sect 
that  revered  the  snake  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  as  the  instructor  in  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil  and  the  originator  of  scit  nee. 


122  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

the  realm  of  paradise,  tlie  realm  of  ghosts,  and  the  realm 
of  hell.  The  Tibetan  picture  shows  the  same  domains, 
only  less  distinctly  separated,  while  the  Japanese  picture 
shows  only  five  divisions.  In  order  to  show  the  omni- 
presence of  the  Buddha  as  the  principle  that  sustains  all 
life,  the  Japanese  picture  shows  a  Buddha  statue  in  the 
hub,  while  in  the  Hindu  wheel  every  division  contains  a 
Buddha  figure.  This  Buddha  in  the  world  is  the  Buddha 
of  transiormsitions,  JVz'rmana-J^aya,  representing  the  ten- 
dency of  life  toward  enlightenment.  Outside  of  the  wheel 
two  other  Buddha  figures  appear.  At  the  right-hand 
corner  there  is  Buddha,  the  teacher,  in  the  attitude  of 
expounding  the  good  law  of  righteousness.  It  is  the 
Dharvia-Kaya^  the  Buddha  embodied  in  the  dharma,  i.e. 
the  law,  religion,  or  truth.  In  the  left-hand  corner  there 
is  Buddha  in  the  state  of  rest,  represented  as  Sainbhoga- 
Kaya^  the  Buddha  who  has  entered  into  Nirvana  and 
attained  the  highest  bliss. 

The  twelve  nidanas  are  an  essential  element  in  the 
Buddhist  wheel  of  life,  and  are  commonly  represented  by 
twelve  little  pictures  either  on  the  tire  or  surrounding 
the  tire. 

On  the  Japanese  wheel,  which  exhibits  the  nidanas 
more  clearly  than  the  older  wheels,  the  series  begins  at 
the  bottom,  rising  to  the  left-hand  side  and  turning  down 
again  on  the  right-hand  side. 

The  first  nidana  (in  Pali  Avijja) ,  ignorance,  is  pic- 
tured as  a  passionate  man  of  brutish  appearance. 

The  second  nidana  (in  Pali  Sa///c/iara,  Sanskrit 
Sa7)iskara) ,  which  is  commonly  but  badly  translated  in 
Bnglish  by  "confection,"  represents  the  ultimate  con- 


BUDDHISM. 


123 


stitutions  of  life  or  ])rimary  forms  of  organisation,  mean- 
ing a  disposition  of  strnclnres  tliat  possess  the  tendency 
to  repeat  the  function  once  performed.  It  is  represented 
as  a  potter's  wheel  on  which  vessels  arc  manufactured. 
The  word  should  not  be  confused  with  samsara,  which  is 


A  Japanese  Wheel  of  Life.     (Reproduced  from  Bastian.) 

the  whole  wheel  of  life,  or  the  eternal   round  of  trans- 
migration. 

The  third  nidana  is  vinnyana,  or  awareness,  being 
the  sentiency  that  originates  bj-  the  repetition  of  function 
in  the  dispositions  or  organised  structures  previously 
formed.  It  is  animal  sense-perception,  represented  as  a 
monkey . 


124  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

The  fourth  nidana  is  "nama-rupa,"  i.  e.,  name  and 
form,  which  expression  denotes  what  we  call  personality, 
the  name  of  a  person  and  his  personal  appearance.  It  is 
represented  by  a  pilot  steering  a  boat. 

The  fifth  nidana  is  called  the  six  fields  or  "  shada- 
yatana,"  which  are  what  we  call  the  five  senses  and 
mind,  or  thinking,  which  is  considered  by  Buddhists  as 
a  sixth  sense.     It  is  pictured  as  a  human  organism. 

The  sixth  nidana  is  " phasso "  or"sparsa,"  i.e., 
the  contact  of  the  six  fields,  with  their  objects,  repre- 
sented as  a  lover's  embrace. 

Rising  from  a  contact  of  the  six  fields  with  their  ob- 
jects, the  seventh  nidana  is  produced  as  "vedana,"  i.  e., 
sensation  or  sentiment,  illustrated  by  a  sighing  lover. 
If  the  sixth  nidana  is  enacted  in  the  garden  scene  of 
Goethe's  "Faust,"  the  seventh  is  characterised  by  Mar- 
garet's song,  "My  peace  is  gone,  ni}-  heart  is  sore." 
(Scene  xv.) 

From  sentiment,  as  the  eighth  nidana,  "tanha," 
i.  e.,  thirst  or  desire,  rises.  The  picture  exhibits  the 
flirtation  of  two  separated  lovers. 

The  ninth  nidana  is  "upadana,"  i.  e.,  the  clinging 
to  existence.  The  picture  shows  us  the  lover  following 
the  footsteps  of  his  love. 

The  tenth  nidana  is  "bhava"  (bridal  embrace),  or 
existence  in  its  continuation,  finding  its  artistic  expres- 
sion in  the  union  of  the  lovers,  who,  seated  on  the  back 
of  an  elephant,  are  celebrating  their  marriage  feast. 

The  eleventh  nidana  is  birth,  "jati,"  in  the  picture 
represented  as  a  woman  in  her  throes. 

The  remaining  groups  represent  the  twelfth  nidana 


BUDDHISM.  125 

and  Its  various  suffering's,  which  consist  of  old  age,  dis- 
ease, death,  lamentation,  complaints,  punishments,  and 
all  kinds  of  tribulations. 

The  twelve  pictures  on  the  Hindu  wheel  are  less 
distinct,  but  there  is  no  question  about  their  meaning  be- 
ing exactly  the  same.  Beginning  at  the  top  on  the  right- 
hand  side,  we  find  first  an  angry  man,  representing  ig- 
norance, then  a  figure  which  might  be  a  potter  forming 
vessels  of  clay  on  the  potter's  wheel,  representing  the 
formation  of  dispositions  or  primary  soul-forms.  The 
third  picture  represents  a  monkey  climbing  a  tree,  sym- 
bolising animal  perception  or  the  individuality  of  organ- 
isms. The  fourth  picture  shows  a  ship  on  a  stream,  rep- 
resenting the  origin  of  mind  under  the  allegory  of  a  pilot. 
The  fifth  picture  seems  to  be  a  house  built  upon  five 
foundation  stones,  which  we  interpret  as  the  five  senses, 
the  superstructure  representing  mind,  the  sixth  sense. 
Then  follows  the  sixth  picture,  a  woman,  kindling  desire 
of  contact.  The  seventh  represents  sentiment  in  the 
shape  of  two  sighing  lovers.  The  eighth  picture  repre- 
sents thirst  or  desire  as  two  separated  lovers.  The  ninth 
picture,  reminding  us  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise,  is  a 
man  plucking  flowers  or  fruits  from  a  tree ;  it  illustrates 
the  tasting  of  the  apple  of  sexual  love.  The  tenth  pic- 
ture illustrates  pregnancy,  the  eleventh  birth,  and  the 
twelfth  is  the  demon  of  death  carrying  away  the  white 
body  of  a  dead  man. 

*  * 

Tbe  wbeel  of  life  as  now  frequently  pictured  in  Bud- 
dhist temples  of  Japan  can,  in  its  wanderings  from  India 
through  Tibet  and  China,  be  traced  back  to  a  remote  an- 


126  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

tiquity,  for  we  know  positively  that  this  conception  of 
the  Evil  One  in  his  relation  to  the  world,  existed  about 
two  thousand  years  ago,  in  the  days  when  Buddhism  still 
flourished  in  India,  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  must 
be  dated  back  to  a  time  preceding  Buddha.  We  may 
fairly  assume  that  when  Buddha  lived,  such  or  similar  rep- 
resentations of  the  significance  of  evil  in  life  existed  and 
that  he  utilised  the  traditional  picture  for  the  purposes  of 
spreading  his  own  religion,  adding  thereto  his  own  inter- 
pretation, and  thus  pouring  new  wine  into  old  bottles. 
There  is  a  possibility  that  the  picture  must  be  dated  back 
to  the  age  of  demonolatry,  when  the  idea  prevailed  that 
the  good  god  need  not  be  worshipped  but  only  the  evil 
god,  because  he  alone  is  dangerous  to  mankind. 

That  the  same  idea  as  expressed  in  the  Buddhist 
wheel  of  life  existed  in  the  remotest  antiquity  of  our  ear- 
liest civilisations  can  be  seen  at  a  glance  by  looking  at 
the  picture  of  the  Chaldean  bronze  tablet  (on  page  46  of 
this  volume) ,  which  represents  the  three  worlds,  the 
realm  of  the  gods,  the  abode  of  men,  and  the  domain  of 
the  dead,  as  being  held  in  the  clutches  of  a  terrible  mon- 
ster. The  similarity  of  the  tablet  to  the  Buddhist  wheel 
of  life  is  too  striking  to  be  fortuitous. 

Religious  symbols,  formulas,  and  rites  are,  as  a  rule, 
punctiliously  preserved  even  after  a  radical  change  of  the 
fundamental  ideas  that  are  embodied  therein.  Judging 
by  analogy  from  the  religious  evolution  of  other  nations, 
we  must  assume  that  the  original  form  of  worship  among 
the  Accadians  was  as  much  demonolatrous  as  it  is  at  a 
certain  stage  of  civilisation  among  all  savage  tribes,  and 
this  bronze  plate  appears  to  preserve  the  lingering  fea- 


BUDDHISM.  127 

tures  of  a  prehistoric  world-conception.  The  simplest 
explanation  that  suggests  itself  is  to  regard  the  monster 
holding  the  world-picture  as  the  deity  of  evil,  who  in  the 
period  when  religion  still  consisted  merely  in  the  fear  of 
evil,  was  worshipped  as  the  actual  prince  of  the  world 
whose  wrath  was  propitiated  by  bloody  sacrifices. 

If  this  view  should  prove  to  be  correct,  the  Chaldean 
bronze  plate  of  the  monster  holding  in  its  claws  the  world 
would  be  the  connecting  link  between  the  veiy  dawn  of 
religious  notions  with  the  foundation  of  Buddhism,  where 
the  worship  of  the  evil  deity  has  disappeared  entirely. 
But  the  influence  of  this  old  mode  of  expression  extends 
even  into  the  sphere  of  the  origin  of  Christianity,  al- 
though here  it  fades  from  sight.  In  the  New  Testament 
the  Buddhist  term  "the  wheel  of  life "  is  used  once  more, 
but  it  is  a  mere  echo  of  a  remote  past ;  its  original  sig- 
nificance is  no  longer  understood.  Speaking  of  the  great 
damage  caused  in  the  world  by  the  tongue,  St.  James 

says : 

"  ovroos  rj  yXdxsGa  HaSiararai  eV  roi5  ^iXeaiv  ?'//.icay  i)  oni- 
Xovaa  oXov  TO  aai-ia-  xai  q)Xoyi8,ovaa  rov  rpoxov  ryZ  yeviaeooi, 
Kai  (pXoyi^o/.tiyt^  vno  rt'/S  ysei'V)jS." 

[Thus  the  tongue  that  defileth  the  whole  body  standeth  among 
our  limbs  ;  and  it  setteth  on  fire  the  wheel  of  becoming  and  is  set 
on  fire  by  hell.] 

The  version  of  King  James  translates  the  term  Tpoxo= 
ysviaeoo?  which  in  the  Vulgate  reads  rosa  nativitatis^  by 
"  course  of  nature." 

Nortlieni  Bitddhism. 
The  Buddhism  of  Tibet  is   not  yet  sufficiently  ex- 
plored on  account  of  the  inaccessibility  of  the  country, 


128 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  its  demonology  is  highly  devel- 
oped and  shows  traces  of  strong  Hindu  influences.   Prom- 


■i/^^ 


Meifo,  the  Dark  Tribunal. 
(Reproduced  from  a  colored  Japanese  illustration  in  fTarma  ) 

inent  among  the  evil  spirits  is  mKha'sGroma,  the  Tib- 
etan form  of  the  Hindu  Goddess  Kali  (see  page  99) ,  who 
is  represented  as  a  frightful  monster  with  a  leonine  head, 


BUDDHISM.  129 

surrounded  by  a  halo  of  flames  and  ready  to  devoiir  every- 
thing she  sees. 

In  China  Taoism,  Confucianism,  and  Buddhism  exist 
peacefully  side  by  side,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  home  in 
the  country  where  the  customary  homage  would  not  be 
paid  to  Lao-Tsze  and  Confucius  as  well  as  to  Buddha. 
Indeed,  there  are  numerous  illustrations  in  which  these 
three  great  masters  are  together  represented  as  dominat- 
ing the  moral  life  of  China. 

In  Japan  the  conditions  are  similar,  except  that  in 
the  place  of  the  popular  Taoism  we  find  Shintoism,  which 
is  the  aboriginal  nature-worship  of  the  country,  consist- 
ing at  present  in  the  observation  of  national  festivals,  in 
which  form  it  has  of  late  been  declared  to  be  the  official 
state  religion  of  the  country. 

The  folklore  of  Chinese  Taoism  and  Japanese  Shin- 
toism was  naturally  embodied  in  the  mythology  of  the 
Buddhists,  and  we  find  therefore  in  their  temples  innu- 
merable representations  of  hell  with  all  their  traditional 
belongings;  Emma,  the  stern  judge  of  Meifu,  the  dark 
tribunal ;  Kongo,  the  sheriff,  and  all  the  terrible  staff  of 
bailiffs,  torturers,  and  executioners,  among  whom  the 
steer-headed  Gozu  and  the  horse-headed  Mezu  are  never 
missing.  By  the  side  of  the  judge's  desk  stands  the  most 
perfect  mirror  imaginable,  for  it  reflects  the  entire  per- 
sonality of  every  being.  Since  man's  personality,  ac- 
cording to  the  Buddhistic  soul-conception,  is  constituted 
by  the  deeds  done  during  life,  the  glass  makes  apparent 
all  the  words,  thoughts,  and  actions  of  the  delinquent  who 
is  led  before  it ;  whereupon  he  is  dealt  with  according  to 
his  deserts.     If  good  deeds  prevail,  he  is  rewarded  by  be- 


130 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Kongo,  the  Sheriff.  Emma,  the  Judge. 

Carved  wood,  Japanese.     (Reproduced  from  a  Japanese  art  print.' 


BUDDHISM. 


131 


ing  reincarnated  in  a  higher  state  of  existence,  be  it  on 
earth,  or  in  the  Western  Paradise,  or  in  one  of  the  heav- 
ens of  the  gods;  or,  if  bad  deeds  prevail,  he  sinks  into 
lower  spheres,  in  which  case  he  mnst  go  back  to  life  in 
the  shape  of  that  creature  which  represents  his  peculiar 
character;  or,  if  he  has  been 
very  wicked,  he  is  doomed  to 
hell,  whither  he  is  carried  in 
the  ho  noknniiua^  the  fiery 
cart,  the  conveyance  of  the  in- 
fernal regions.  The  sentence 
is  pronounced  in  these  words  : 

"Thy  evil  deeds  are  not  the 
work  of  th)'  mother,  father,  rela- 
tives, friends,  advisers.  Thou  alone 
hast  done  them  all  ;  thou  alone 
must  gather  the  fruit.  "   (Devad.  S.  ) 

Dragged  to  the  place  of 
torment,  he  is  fastened  to  red 
hot  irons,  plunged  into  fiery 
lakes  of  blood,  raked  over 
burning  coals,  and  "he  dies 
not  till  the  last  residue  of  his 
guilt  has  been  expiated." 

But  the  Devil  is  not  al- 
ways taken  seriousl}',  and  it 
appears  that  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  exhibit  all  the 
hiumor  they  are  capable  of  in  their  devil  pictures  and 
statues,  among  which  the  Oni-no-Nembutzu,  the  Devil 
as  a  monk,  is  perhaps  the  most  grotesque  figure. 

In  the  later  development  of  Northern  Buddhism,  all 


The  Devil  as  a  Monk. 
(Japanese  wood  carving  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.    MuseeGuimet.) 


132 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Oni-no-Nembutzu. 

The  demon  repeating  Buddha's  name,  representing  greed  and  hypocrisy.  He 
goes  about  with  a  subscription  list  and  a  bowl,  carried  by  his  little  assistant,  to 
collect  money.     (After  a  wood  carving  in  the  author's  possession.) 


BUDDHISM. 


133 


the  evils  of  this  world,  represented  in  various  devil  per- 
sonalities, are  conceived  as  incarnations  of  Buddha  him- 
self, who,  by  showing  the  evil  consequences  of  sin,  en- 
deavors to  convert  mankind  to  holiness  and  virtue. 

We  find  in  the  Buddhist  temples  of  China  and  Japan 
so-called  Mandaras,  which  represent  the  world-conception 
of  Buddhism  in  its  cosmic  entirety.  The  word  Mandara 
means  "a  complete  ensemble,' ''  and  it  exhibits  a  system- 
aticall}^   arranged    group    of    Buddha-incarnations.     The 


HoNO  KuRUMA,  THE  Cart  OF  Hei.l.     (After  an  old  Japanese  painting.) 

statue  of  the  highest  Buddha  who  dwells  in  Nirvana  al- 
ways stands  in  the  centre.  It  is  "  Bodhi,"  enlighten- 
ment, or  "Sambodhi,"  perfect  enlightenment,  that  is  to 
say,  the  Truth,  eternal  rightness,  or  rather.  Verity,  the 
objective  reality  that  is  represented  in  truth,  which  is  the 
same  forever  and  aye.  He  is  personified  under  the  name 
Amitabha,  which  means  boundless  light,  being  that  some- 
thing the  recognition  of  which  constitutes  Buddhahood. 
He  is  like  God,  the  Father  of  the  Christians,  omnipres- 
ent and  eternal,  the  light  and  life  of  the  world,  and  the 


134 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Tibetan  Devil's  Altar. 
(From  Waddell.) 


BUDDHISM. 


135 


ultimate  authority  of  moral  conduct.  Anotlier  prominent 
Buddha  incarnation  is  Maitreya,  the  Buddha  to  come,  who 
is  the  Christian  holy  spirit.  He  is  the  comforter  whose 
appearance  was  promised  by  Buddha  shortly  before  part- 
ing from  his  disciples. 

The  catalogue  of  the  IMusec  Guimet  of  Paris,  the 
best  religious  museum  in  the  world,  describes  a  Mandara, 
in  which  the  highest  Buddha  in  the  centre  of  the  group  is 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  his  incarnations  of  various 
degrees  and  dignities.  These  are  the  Bodhisattvas,  proph- 
ets and  sages  of  the  world,  who  have  either  taught  man- 
kind or  set  them  good  examples  by  their  virtuous  lives. 
On  the  right  we  see  a  group  of  personified  abstracts, — 
piety,  charit3^  science,  religion,  the  aspiration  for  pro- 
gress. On  the  left  is  a  third  class,  consisting  of  the 
ugly  figures  of  demons,  whose  appearance  is  destined  to 
frighten  people  away  from  sensuality,  egotism,  and  evil 
desires. 

The  devils  of  Buddhism,  accordingly,  are  not  the  en- 
emies of  Buddha,  and  not  even  his  antagonists,  but  his 
ministers  and  co-workers.  They  partake  of  Buddha's  na- 
ture, for  they,  too,  are  teachei's.  They  are  the  rods  of 
punishment,  representing  the  curse  of  sin,  and  as  such 
have  also  been  fitly  conceived  as  incaimations  of  the 
Bodhi.  In  this  interpretation,  the  Buddhist  devils  cease 
to  be  torturers  and  become  instruments  of  education  who 
contribute  their  share  to  the  general  system  of  working 
out  the  final  salvation  of  man. 

Christian  salvation  consists  in  an  atonement  of  sin 
through  the  bloody  sacrifice  of  a  sinless  redeemer ;  Bud- 
dhist salvation  is  attained  through  enlightenment.    Hence 


136 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Ciirist  is  the  sufferer,  tlie  innocent  man  who  dies  to  pay 
with  his  life  the  debt  of  others  who  are  guilty.     Buddha 


Buddha  Extending  His  Help  to  a  Sufferer  in  Hell. 
The  goodwill  that  a  poor  wretch  had   shown  in  his  former  life  to  a  spider,, 
his  only  good  deed,  serves  him  in  hell  as  a  means  of  escape.      (Reproduced  from  a 
colored  Japanese  illustration  in  A'arma  ) 

is  the  teacher  who  by  example  and  instruction  shows  peo- 
ple the  path  of  salvation. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA. 


Gnostic  Societies  and  Congregations. 

THE  TRANSITION  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament is  an  age  of  nnrest.  The  Jews  had  become 
familiar  with  the  civilisation  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia, 
and  enjoj-ed  friendly  relations  with  the  Persians.  But 
the  intercourse  and  general  exchange  of  thought  among 
the  nations  of  Western  Asia  became  more  extended  and 
grew  livelier  since  Alexander  the  Great's  time,  for  now 
Greek  as  well  as  Indian  views  mixed  and  produced  a 
powerful  fermentation  in  the  religious  beliefs  of  the  peo- 
ple. We  ma}'  fairly  assume  that  the  doctrines  of  the 
Hindu  reached  Sj'ria  in  vague  and  frequently  self-contra- 
dictory forms,  but  the}-  were  new  and  attractive,  and  apt 
to  revolutionise  the  traditional  ethics  of  the  people.  For- 
merly procreation  of  children  was  regarded  as  a  duty  and 
the  acquisition  of  wealth  as  a  blessing,  now  it  became 
known  that  there  were  also  people  who  sought  salvation 
in  absolute  chastity  and  poverty.  The  highest  morality 
of  the  monks  of  India  was  no  longer  the  strength  of 
maintaining  oneself  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  but  the 
surrender  of  all  strife  and  a  radical  renunciation  of  self. 


138  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

There  are  especially  three  ideas  which  dominated 
the  whole  movement  aud  acted  as  a  leaven  in  the  dough : 
the  idea  of  the  spirituality  of  the  soul,  the  hope  of  the 
soul's  escape  from  bodily  existence,  and  the  method  of 
obtaining  this  liberation  by  wisdom  (Goepia)  or  enlighten- 
ment (yrmffts)  . 

The  realisation  of  the  Gnostic  ideal  was  called  nX?/- 
pa>/.m  or  fulfilment,  which  was  either  expected  by  the 
soul's  attainment  of  salvation  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Buddhist  Nirvana,  or  for  the  whole  world  through  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  savior — a  messiah. 

The  spirit  of  the  times  showed  itself  in  the  foundation 
of  various  religious  societies,  which  originated  somewhat 
after  the  fashion  of  the  modern  theosophical  movements. 
There  were  bands  of  students  of  the  new  problems  in 
almost  all  larger  cities,  who  investigated  the  doctrines  of 
salvation  and  immortality,  and  in  addition  there  were 
enthusiasts  who  tried  to  applj^  the  new  principles  in  prac- 
tical life.  The  former  called  themselves  /uaBj^rai,  learn- 
ers or  disciples,  the  latter  holy  ones  (aytoi) ,  or  healers 
{OeparrsvTai,  therapeutae)  .'■' 

With  regard  to  the  problem  of  evil,  the  most  pecu- 
liar sect  were  the  Gnostics  of  Syria  whom  the  Church 
fathers  called  serpent-worshippers  or  Ophites,  because  on 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  Biblical  books  they  re- 
garded Yahveh,  the  demiurge  or  author  of  this  visible 
and  material  world,  as  an  evil  deity  while  the  serpent 

*  Philo  explains  the  name  "  therapeutae  "  also  as  "  worshippers."  The  genuine- 
ness of  Philo's  book  i9c  i'i/a  co7item(<latii'a  and  with  it  the  very  existence  of  the 
therapeutae  has  been  doubted  by  P.  E.  Lucius,  whose  views,  however,  are  thor- 
oughly refuted  by  Fred.  C.  Conybeare,  Philo  About  the  Contemflative  Life  (Cla- 
rendon Press,  Oxford,  1S95) 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA. 


139 


with  liis  promise  of  giving  knowledge  or  gnosis  to  man, 
appeared  to  them  as  a  messenger  of  the  true  and  good 
God.  This  God  of  goodness,  they  declared,  was  unlike 
Yahvehfree  of  passions  and  full  of  love  and  mercy.  He 
was,  as  Irenseus  informs  us,  triune,  being  at  once  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit.  The  Father  is  the  pro- 
totype of  man,  an  idea  which  is  carried  out  in  the  Cab- 
ala as  the  Adam  Kadmon ;  the  Son  is  the  eternal  reason 
or  comprehension  {"Eyvour) ,  and  the  Spirit  is  the  female 
principle  of  spiritual  generation. 


The  Christian  Trinity,  God  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
(Old  German  School.    Reproduced  from  Muther.) 

Similar  ideas  concerning  the  triune  Godhead  and  the 
salvation  from  evil  are  reported  of  other  sects  and  espe- 
cially of  Simon  Magus  who  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts  as 
having  been  baptised  by  St.  Peter  and  condemned  for  his 
opinion  that  the  Holy  Ghost  could  be  bought  with  money. 

We  know  of  sects  in  Judasa,the  Nazarenes,  the  Sa- 
bians.*  or  Baptisers,  the  Essenes,  and  the  Ebionites, 
which  were  born  of  the  same  seeking  spirit  of  the  age. 
But  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  members  of  these  so- 


*St.  John  the  Baptist  was  a  Sabian.     The  name  is  derived  from  »??  {/sa/>/ia) 
to  baptise. 


140  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

cieties  belonged  exclusively  to  the  poorer  class  of  society 
and  formed  a  third  party  which  was  quite  distinct  from 
the  orthodox  Pharisees  and  the  liberal  Sadducees."^  The^- 
are  to  us  of  importance,  however,  because  from  their 
midst  proceeded  the  man  who  was  destined  to  become  the 
standard  bearer  of  a  new  faith  and  the  representative  in- 
carnation of  the  new  religion — Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

The  Apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  literature  of  this  period  was  no  longer  received 
into  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  and  is  therefore  in 
spite  of  many  good  qualities  even  to  the  present  day  re- 
garded as  apocryphal. 

*The  word  Essenes,  or  Essees  (in  Greek  "Eaajivni  and  "Eaaalot,  inLatin Esseni), 
is  derived  by  Ewald  from  '^'-'  preserver,  guardian,  a  rabbinical  term,  because  they 
called  themselves  "watchers,  guardians,  servants  of  God."  Others  derive  the  word 
from  '"'V^  (to  heal).  Both  derivations  would  remind  one  of  the  Therapeutae.  The  root 
~?'~(to  fly,  to  take  refuge)  seems  to  be  quite  probable,  philologically  considered, 
especially  as  the  word  is  used  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Buddhist  takes  refuge  in 
the  Dharma,  illustrated  in  such  phrases  as ''"''"  =  ' '?"  (to  take  refuge  in  God), 
Psalms  ii.  12  ;  v.  15  ;  vii.  2  ;  xxv  20  ;  xxxi.  2  ;  xxxvii.  40,  etc.  A  fourth  derivation 
is  from  '??  (to  be  pious,  to  be  enthusiastic,  to  be  zealous  in  love).  Philo  says  they 
are  called  "Essenes"  on  account  of  their  holiness  (ira/xJ  ri/v  oaioripa)  and  uses  the 
term  baioi,  i.  e. ,  "the  saints,"  or  "the  holy  ones,"  as  a  synonym  for  Essenes.  This 
hint,  however,  is  of  little  avail,  as  it  would  suit  almost  any  one  of  the  various  deri- 
vations. 

The  word  Ebionites  ^"''''?^  means  the  poor. 

The  early  Christians  seem  to  have  been  most  closely  allied  with  the  Nazarenes. 
for  as  early  as  in  the  year  54  of  our  era  (see  Harnack's  Chronologic,  p.  237)  St. 
Paul  was  accu.sed  by  the  Jewish  authorities  of  being  a  ringleader  of  the  sect  of  the 
Nazarenes.      (Acts,  xxiv.  5) 

The  name  'Na^upaioi  (sometimes  ^aCapr/voi)  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  name  of 
the  town  of  Nazareth  {Na^apsS),  which  was  presumably  written  with  a  a  (  Tsadili) 
or  sharp  ts  sound.  The  name  Nazareth  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  its  original  Ara- 
maic form,  and  occurs  only  in  the  New  Testament  whence  it  made  its  way  into  the 
patristic  literature  of  later  Christianity.  Neither  must  the  name  Nazarene  be  con- 
founded with  Nazarite  "^  '-4  an  abstainer,  who  as  a  visible  sign  of  his  vow  let  his 
hair  grow,  but  both  words  may  have  been  derived  from  the  same  root  ~A^,  the  for- 
mer in  the  sense  of  "Separatist."  The  Niphel  of  the  verb  means  "to  separate 
oneself  from  others;  to  abstain,  to  vow,  to  devote  oneself  to." 


THE  DAWN  OK  A  NEW  ERA. 


141 


The  new  world-conception  which  emphasised  the 
contrast  between  body  and  sonl  developed  a  new  moral 
ideal ;  and  the  conception  of  evil  underwent  the  same 
subtle  changes  as  the  conception  of  goodness.  Since  the 
lower  classes  began  to  make  their  influence  felt,  it  is  nat- 
ural that  in  the  Apocryphal  Books  of  the  Old  Testament 


AsMODi,  AN  Evil  Spirit,  Cast  Out  by  Prayer. 
(After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld.) 

the  conception  of  Satan  grew  more  mythological  and  at 
the  same  time  more  dualistic.  He  developed  into  an  in- 
dependent demon  of  evil,  and  now,  perhaps  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Persian  views,  the  adversary  of  man  became 
the  adversary  of  God  himself. 

In  the  story  of  Tobit  (150  B.C.)  an  evil  spirit  called 
Asmodi  plays  an  important  part.      His  name  which  in  its 


142  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

original  form  is  Aeshma  Daeva^  indicates  a  Persian  ori- 
gin. He  tries  to  prevent  Sarah's  marriage,  because  lie  is 
in  love  with  her  himself.  In  the  Talmud,  Asmodi  devel- 
ops into  the  demon  of  lust. 

Very  valuable  books  among  the  Apocrj-pha  are  the 
book  of  Daniel  and  the  two  books  of  Esdras  ;  but  the  no- 
blest thoughts  are  mixed  with  Judaistic  chauvinism  and 
bitter  hatred  of  the  Gentile  nations. 

Esdras  anticipates  the  general  eschatology  as  well 
as  many  smaller  details  of  the  Christian  doctrines  in  a 
more  definite  shape  than  any  other  author  of  the  period. 
He  even  proclaims  (2  Esdras,  vii.  l^")  the  name  of  the 
Saviour  whom  the  Lord  calls  "  my  son  Jesus."  '* 

Esdras  mentions  two  abysmal  beings,  Enoch  and 
Leviathan,  but  they  do  not  take  an3-  part  in  the  produc- 
tion of  evil.  He  might  as  well  have  omitted  to  mention 
them.  In  the  name  of  God,  an  angel  explains  to  him 
the  origin  of  evil  as  follows  in  a  simile  which  reminds  us 
of  both  the  Buddhist  parable  of  the  city  of  Nirvana  and 
Christ's  Sermon  on  the  Mount : 

"  'A  city  is  builded,  and  set  upon  a  broad  field,  and  is  full  of 
all  good  things:  The  entrance  thereof  is  narrow,  and  is  set  in  a 
dangerous  place  to  fall,  like  as  if  there  were  a  fire  on  the  right 
hand,  and  on  the  left  a  deep  water :  And  one  only  path  between 
them  both,  even  between  the  fire  and  the  water,  so  small  that  there 
could  but  one  man  go  there  at  once.  If  this  city  now  were  given 
unto  man  for  an  inheritance,  if  he  never  shall  pass  the  danger  set 
before  it,  how  shall  he  receive  this  inheritance?' 

"And  I  said,  '  It  is  so.  Lord.' 

"Then  said  he  unto  me,    'Even  so  also  is   Israel's  portion. 

*The  passage  is  of  course  subject  to  the  suspicion  of  being  a  later  interpola- 
tion. 


THE  UAWN  OF  A  NKW  KRA.  143 

Because  for  their  sakes  I  made  the  world  :  and  when  Adam  trans- 
gressed my  statutes,  then  was  decreed  that  now  is  done.  Then 
were  the  entrances  of  this  world  made  narrow,  full  of  sorrow  and 
travail ;  they  are  but  few  and  evil,  full  of  peril  and  very  painful. 
For  the  entrances  of  the  elder  world  wen-  wide  and  sure,  and 
brought  immortal  fruit.  If  then  they  that  live  labor  not  to  enter 
these  strait  and  painful  things,  they  can  never  receive  those  that 
are  laid  up  for  them.'  "     (2  Esdras,  vii,  6-^4.) 

A  peculiarly  intere.sting  apocryphal  work  i.s  ascribed 
to  the  patriarch  Enoch. 

The  book  of  Enoch  undertakes  to  explain  in  allegor- 
ical form  God's  plan  of  the  world's  history.  The  book  is 
not  yet  Christian  but  shows  man^-  traces  of  doctrines  pro- 
fessed by  the  sects  which  appeared  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era  as  competitors  of  Christianity. 

While  Enoch's  demonology  smacks  of  the  religious 
m3'ths  of  the  Gentiles,  his  ideas  of  salvation  from  evil  be- 
tray Gnostic  tendencies. 

We  read,  for  example,  in  Chapter  42: 

"Wisdom  came  to  live  among  men  and  found  no  dwelling- 
place.  Then  she  returned  home  and  took  her  seat  among  the  an- 
gels." 

We  read  of  the  Messiah,  commonly  designated  "the 
son  of  a  woman,"  sometimes  "the  son  of  man,"  and 
once  "the  son  of  God,"  that  he  existed  from  the  begin- 
ning: 

"Ere  the  sun  and  the  signs  [in  the  zodiac]  were  made,  ere 
the  stars  of  the  heavens  were  created,  his  name  was  pronounced 
before  the  Lord  of  the  spirits.  Before  the  creation  of  the  world  he 
was  chosen  and  hidden  before  Him  [God],  and  before  Him  he  will 
be  from  eternity  to  eternity." 


144 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Heaven  and  Hell. 


(After  H    F  ,  an  unknown  Old-German  master.) 
Preserving  the  gnostic  Trinity-ideal  of  God  father,  God  mother,  and  God  son. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA.  145 

*'A11  the  secrets  of  wisdom  will  flow  from  the  thoughts  of  his 
mouth,  for  the  Lord  of  the  spirits  has  given  wisdom  unto  him  and 
has  glorified  him.  In  him  liveth  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  and  the 
spirit  of  Him  who  giveth  comprehension,  and  the  spirit  of  the  doc- 
trine and  of  the  power,  and  the  spirit  of  all  those  who  are  justified 
and  are  now  sleeping.  And  He  will  judge  all  hidden  things,  and 
no  one  will  speak  trifling  words  before  Him,  for  He  is  chosen  be- 
fore the  Lord  of  the  spirits.  He  is  powerful  in  all  secrets  of  justi- 
fication, and  injustice  has  no  place  before  Him." 

And  God  says  of  the  sons  of  the  earth : 

"  I  and  my  son  shall  unite  ourselves  with  them  for  ever  and 
aye  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  all  their  lives." 

The  spiritualistic  views  in  the  Book  of  Enoch,  espe- 
cially the  supernatural  personality  of  the  Messiah,  are 
not  peculiarly  Christian,  but  Essenic  or  Gnostic,  stand- 
ing even  in  contradiction  to  the  idea  that  the  Messiah 
would  become  flesh  and  live  among  men  as  a  real  man. 

It  is  a  pity  that  we  do  not  possess  the  original,  but 
only  an  Ethiopian  version  of  the  Book  of  Enoch,  which 
has  been  translated  into  German  by  Dr.  A.  Dillmann, 
for  it  is  of  great  interest  to  the  historian.  It  breathes 
the  spirit  of  a  Judaistic  Gnosticism,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  original  Book  of  Enoch  was  written  in  the  year 
110  B.  C.  by  a  Jew  of  the  Pharisee  party.* 

The  Book  of  IVt'sdont  and  tJie  Gnostic   Tn'ni/y  Idea. 

The  Book  of  Wisdom,  a  product  of  Alexandrian  Ju- 
daism, showing  traces  of  both  Greek  and  Eastern  in- 
fluences, speaks  of  the  Devil  as  having  through  envy 
introduced  death  into  the  world.     We  read: 

*  See  Dillmann,  Das  Buck  Henoch,  p.  xliv. 


The  Holv  Trinity  in  the  Vatican. 
(After  Pietro  Berrettini.     Reproduced  from  //  Valicaiio,  plate  xx. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA. 


147 


"God  created  man  to  be  immortal,  and  made  him  to  be  an  im- 
age of  his  own  eternity;  nevertheless,  through  envy  of  the  Devil 
came  death  into  the  world,  and  they  that  do  hold  of  his  side  do 

find  it." 

The  Wisdom  literature  shows  many  traces  of  Indian 
influence.     The  very  word  wisdom,  or  sophia,  seems  to 


yi^wtWrj'  ya^^l<l(v>^»^i|i^;v(»^M(y^y«^  v,wt: 


« 


The  Buddhist  Trinity,  the  Buddha,  the  Dharma,  the  Sangha. 
(Japanese  wood  carving;  Musee  Guimet.) 

be  a  translation  of  the  term  bodhi.  x\t  the  same  time,  the 
trinity  idea  begins  to  take  root  in  the  Jewish  mind,  the 
oldest  form  of  it  being  moulded  after  the  pattern  of  the 
family,  which  consists  of  father,  mother,  and  child.  The 
Wisdom  books  represent  the  relation  of  Sophia  to  God  as 
his  spouse  and  the  Messiah  as  their  son.  Many  Gnostics 
used  the  terms  Sophia,  Pneuma,  and  Logos  as  names  for 


148 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  second  person  of  the  Deity,  who  represented  the  di- 
vine motherhood  of  the  God-man.  But  during  the  first 
period  of  the  development  of  the  Christian  Church,  the 
ideal  of  a  God-mother  was  abandoned,  the  Logos  was 
identified  with  God  the  Son,  who  now  became  the  second 
person  of  the  Trinit}- ;   and  the  name  Pneuma  or  spirit 

was  alone  retained 
for  the  third  person. 
The  Gnostic  Trinit}^- 
conception,  however, 
left  its  trace  in  the 
Christian  apocrypha, 
for  in  ' '  the  Gospel 
according  to  the  He- 
brews" Christ  spoke 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
his  mother.'* 

The  Trinit}' idea 
is  of  a  very  ancient 
origin.  We  encounter 
it  in  the  religion  of 
Babylon  (see  p.  40) , 
in   Brahmanism  (see 


-V  -^'UT' 


The  Trinity  and  Mary, 
(By  Ambrogio  Fossano,  called  Borgognone.   For- 
merly in  the  S.  Simpliciano  at  Milan,  now  at   the     -^     1  ^^       and    iu    Bud- 
Brera.     After  Liibke. ) 

dhism.  The  Bud- 
dhists take  refuge  in  the  Buddha,  the  Dharma,  and  the 
Sangha,  called  the  three  jewels,  representing  (l)  Buddha 
the  teacher,  (2)  the  Buddhist  religion  or  the  good  law, 
and  (3)  the  Buddhist  brotherhood  or  Church.  The  Trin- 
ity doctrine  is  not  contained  in  the  New  Testament,  all 


* Ilicron.  adv.  J'clai'.  III.,  2. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA. 


149 


the  passages  which  seem  to  involve  it  being  spurious; 
but  it  fonns  an  integral  part  of  almost  all  Gnostic  sys- 
tems, where  it  either  appears  as  three  abstract  principles, 
or  as  the  family  relation  of  Father,  Mother,  and  Child, 
viewed  as  one. 

The  Trinity  idea  of  God  as  a  divine  unity  of  Father, 
Mother,  and  Christ-child 
was  retained  among  the 
Oriental  Christians  to  the 
days  of  the  rise  of  Moham- 
medanism .  The  Koran 
knows  as  yet  nothing  of 
the  spiritualised  Trinity 
conception  of  the  Western 
Church,  but  represents  the 
Christian  Trinity  as  con- 
sisting of  God,  Christ,  and 
Mary.  And  this  Gnostic 
Trinity  -  conception  is  a 
natural  ideal  which  in  the 
further  development  of 
Christianity  proved  strong 
enough  to  influence  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
her  devotion  to  Mar3',  the 

mother     of     Christ,     whose   P^^uced   from    Bastian's  Ethnol.  Bilder- 

buck,  plate  xvii.) 

personality  was  sometimes 

superadded  to  the  Trinity-,  and  sometimes  even  suffered 

to  replace  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  more  abstract  form  of  the  Trinity,  emphasising 
it  as  a  triunity,  found  its  artistic  expression  in  pictures 


The  Christian  Trinity. 
From  the  Icotiogi-afhie  Chretienne.   (Re- 


150 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


of  God  as  possessed  of  three  faces.  The  most  striking 
among  these  productions  is  an  old  oil  painting  which  was 
discovered  by  a  German  artist  at  Salerno  and  published 
for  the  first   time   in   Die   Gartenlmibe  (1882,  No.  47). 

The     four    eyes     in 

their  meditative  atti- 
tude make  a  weird 
impression  on  the 
spectator,  the  three 
elongated  noses  show 
a  freedom  from  sen- 
suality, the  brown 
hair  and  beard  indi- 
cate strength,  the 
broad  forehead  wis- 
dom. 

A   Modern    Gnostic. 

The  Trinity  of  Salerno.  JaCob       Bohme's 

Byzantine  style  of  Lower  Italy,  probably  of  the  phlloSOphy  is,  in  this 
XIII.  century.     Sketched  by  the  artist  of  the  Gar-  .  . 

tcnlaube  in   an   inn   at    Salerno   from   the  original  COUneXlOn,     OI    lUtCr- 

painting  which  has  been  sold  in  the  mean  time  to  pc(-  l-iecinse  if  rPDre- 
an  Englishman. 

sents  a  revival  of  the 
spirit  of  Gnosticism  in  its  best  and  most  tj'pical  form. 
It  may  serve  as  a  substitute  to  characterise  by  way  of 
example  the  modes  of  thought  of  the  ancient  Gnostic  sys- 
tems and  their  comprehension  of  the  problem  of  evil. 

Jacob  Bohme  was  a  German  mystic,  born  in  1575  at 
Alt-Seidenberg  near  Gorlitz  in  Silesia.  Like  David  he 
was  in  his  childhood  a  shepherd.  Having  served  from 
his  fourteenth  year  as  a  shoemaker's  apprentice  and  being 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA. 


151 


aifiliated  with  the  shoemaker  guild,  he  established  him- 
self as  a  master  shoemaker  in  Gorlitz  in  1599.  Later  on 
in  his  life  he  changed  his  trade  for  that  of  a  glover.  His 
books  circulated  during  his  life-time  in  manuscript-form 
only,  but  even  this  sufficed  to  make  his  name  known 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  native  town.  He  died  on  Sun- 
day, November  17th, 
1624,  at  his  home  in 
Gorlitz,  much  ad- 
mired by  his  friends 
and  persecuted  by 
some  narrow-minded 
enemies  who  showed 
their  malice  even  af- 
ter his  death  b^'  de- 
facing the  monument 
of  the  deceased  phi- 
losopher. The  best 
evidence,  however,  of 
his  genius  and  the 
recognition  which  his 
honest  aspirations 
found  among  his  fel- 
low citizens  appears 
in  the  fact  that  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Gregorius  Richter, 
the  pastor  primarius  of  Gorlitz  and  the  bitterest  antag- 
onist of  Jacob  Bohme,  edited  a  collection  of  extracts 
from  his  writings,  which  were  afterwards  published  com- 
plete at  Amsterdam  in  the  year  1682. 

The    similarity    of   Jacob   Bohme's    speculations    to 
Gnosticism   is   apparent,  but  the   coincidence   is   almost 


Jacob  Bohme. 


152 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


spontaneous.  His  education  was  very  limited,  and  lie 
was  only  superficially  familiar  with  the  theories  of  Para- 
celsus (Theophrastus  Bombast  von  Hohenheim,  1493- 
1541) ,  Kaspar  Schwenkfeld  (1490-1561) ,  and  Valentin 
Weigel  (1533-1588).  His  own  system  is  original  with 
him.  It  is  mainly  due  to  a  reflection  on  the  Bible,  which 
he  read  with  a  deeply  religious  spirit  but  preserving  at 
the  same  time  great  independence  of  thought. 

Jacob   Bohme  conceives   God   as    the    unfathomable 

ground  of  existence,  as 


the  Ungriind.  His  bi- 
ographer in  the  En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica 
saj'S  of  his  philosophy  : 

"Nature  rises  out  of 
Him,  we  sink  into  Him.  .  . . 
The  same  view  when  of- 
fered in   the  colder  logic  of 

Spinoza,   is  sometimes  set 
Vignette  of    Jacob   Bohme's    Book   on   the 

Threefold  Life  of  Man,  aside  as  atheistical. 

Illustrating  the  three  principles  which  pervade  ' '  Translating  Bohme's 

life,  consisting  of  the  principles  of  Good  and  ^1^0^],^  ^^jj  ^f  jj^g  uncouth 
Evil  as  unfolded  in  Time. 

dialect  of  material  symbols 

(as  to  which  one  doubts  sometimes  whether  he  means  them  as 
concrete  instances,  or  as  pictorial  illustrations,  or  as  a  mere  moiw- 
ria  technica)  we  find  that  Bohme  conceives  of  the  correlation  of  two 
triads  of  forces.  Each  triad  consists  of  a  thesis,  an  antithesis,  and 
a  synthesis ;  and  the  two  are  connected  by  an  important  link.  In 
the  hidden  life  of  the  Godhead,  which  is  at  once  Nichts  and  Alles, 
exists  the  original  triad,  viz.,  Attraction,  Diffusion,  and  their  resul- 
tant, the  Agony  of  the  unmanifested  Godhead.  The  transition  is 
made;  by  an  act  of  will  the  divine  Spirit  comes  to  Light;  and  im- 
mediately the  manifested  life  appears  in  the  triad  of  Love,  E.xpres- 


THE  DAWN  OK  A  NKW  KRA. 


153 


V"'**-r^v- 


j*.  ; 


sion,  and  their  resultant  Visible  ^'^ariety.  As  the  action  of  contra- 
ries and  their  resultant  are  explained  the  relations  of  soul,  body, 
and  spirit  ;  of  good,  evil,  and  free  will  ;  of  the  spheres  of  the  an- 
gels, of  Lucifer,  and  of  this  world. 

"It  is  a  more  difficult  problem  to  account  on   this  philosophy 
for  the  introduction   of  evil.  .  .  .  Evil  is  a  direct  outcome  of  the 
primary  principle  of  divine  ma- 
nifestation— it  is  the  wrath  sid% 
of  God." 

The  problem  of  the 
idea  of  evil  is  very  promi- 
nent in  Jacob  Bohme's 
philosophy,  and  has  found 
a  monistic  solution.  With- 
out identifying  good  and 
evil,  he  arrives  at  the  con- 
clusion that  the  existence 
of  evil  is  intrinsically  ne- 
cessary and  unavoidable ; 
it  is  ultimately  rooted  in 
the  nature  of  God  himself. 
The  yearning  for  self-real- 
isation constitutes  a  suffer-        ^      .    .       .  ,     ,_  „  ^     .  , 

iTontispiece  oi  Jacob  Bohme  s  book  on 
ing  in  God  himself,   and  in       'he  subject*  and  illustrating  his  religious 
,  ,  ,.  ,   .  philosophy 

the  act  ot  revealing  him- 
self his  will  manifests  both  the  bright  and  the  dark  as- 
pect of  life. 

Jacob  Bohme  anticipates  Schopenhauer.     He  says, 
in  his  book  on  "The  Threefold  Life  of  Man,"  p.  56:''' 


The  Three  Principles. 


*Hohe  und  tiefe  Griinde  von  dem  Drcyfachin  I.chcn  dcs  Menschen  tiach 
dem  GeheimnUss  der  drey  Priitcipien  gottlicher  Offenbahriing.  Geschrieben 
nach  gottlicher  Erlcuchtung.      Amsterdam,   1682. 


154  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"  For  all  things  stand  in  the  will,  and  in  the  will  they  are  con- 
ducted. If  I  do  not  conceive  a  will  to  walk,  my  body  remaineth 
at  a  stand-still.  Therefore  my  will  beareth  me,  and  if  I  have  no 
desire  for  [moving  to]  some  place,  there  is  no  will  in  me.  But  if 
I  desire  something  else,  it  is  of  the  essence  the  will. 

"The  eternal  word  is  the  eternal  will." — Ihid.,  p.  17. 

Materiality  and  sensuality  are  identified  with  sin, 
and  sin  begins  not  with  the  actual  fall  but  with  lusting, 
sleep  being  a  symptom  of  this  condition. 

"Before  his  sleep  Adam  was  in  the  form  of  an  angel,  but  after 
his  sleep  he  had  flesh  and  blood,  and  there  was  a  clod  of  the  ground 
in  his  flesh." — Die  drey  Principioi,  p.  221. 

With  all  his  gnostic  tendencies  Jacob  Bohme  is  not 
a  dualist  but  a  monist.  The  dualit3-  of  life  viewed  under 
the  aspect  of  a  higher  unity  constitutes  a  trinity  whose 
three  principles  are  represented  in  the  frontispiece  of 
Jacob  Bohme's  b(3ok  on  the  subject*  as  two  overlapping 
spheres  which  by  meeting  produce  a  third  domain.  There 
is  an  eternal  goodness,  and  there  is  an  eternal  badness, 
and  there  is  an  eternal  mixture  of  both.  The  eternal 
goodness  contains  the  divine  spirit  and  all  the  angels. 
But  the  sphere  of  badness  is  no  less  eternal.  It  is  in  its 
ultimate  constitution  the  materiality  of  the  world.  The 
original  Adam  (a  kind  of  Platonic  prototype  of  man)  was 
spiritual :  his  fall  begins  with  his  falling  to  sleep  (p. 
124) ,  the  result  of  carnal  desire  which  changes  his  nature 
and  leads  to  the  creation  of  the  woman  to  tempt  him. 

But  Jacob  Bohme  is  not  a  dualist,  for  he  conceives 
of  the  three  spheres  as  being  one.  He  sa3^s  in  his  book 
on  The  Threefold  Life  of  Man  ^  p.  16: 

*  l^cschrcibung  dc7-  drey  Frincifien  giitllichoi    M'eseris      Amsterdam,  16S2 


THR  DAWN  OK  A  NKW  KRA.  155 

"We  remind  tlie  Goil-lovinp;  and  seeking  reader  to  recognise 
this  of  God.  He  should  not  concentrate  his  mind  and  senses  to 
seek  the  pure  Godhead  in  loneliness,  high  above  the  stars,  as  liv- 
ing solely  in  the  heavens.  .  .  .  No,  the  pure  Godhead  is  every- 
where, entirely  present  in  all  places  and  ends.  There  is  everywhere 
the  birth  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  one  Being,  and  the  angelic  world 
reaches  unto  all  the  ends  wherever  thou  mayest  think  ;  even  into 
the  middle  of  the  earth,  stones,  and  rocks  ;  consequently  also  into 
Hell;  briefly,  the  empire  of  the  wrath  of  God  is  also  everywhere." 

Jacob  Bohme  docs  not  believe  in  the  letter  but  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Biljle ;  and  although  he  is  counted  a 
mystic,  the  illumination  which  he  seeks  is  as  sober  as 
j-ou  can  expect  of  a  man  of  his  culture.  He  freely  util- 
ises the  Scriptures,  but  urges  good  Christians  to  seek  the 
key  to  the  problems  of  existence  deeper.  He  says:  "No 
one  can  come  to  God  except  through  the  Holy  Ghost," 
and  by  the  "Holy  Ghost"  he  understands  this  spiritual 
illumination  of  heart  and  mind.    He  says  [ibid.^  15-16)  : 

"Search  for  the  ground  of  nature.  Thus  you  will  comprehend 
all  things.  And  do  not  madly  go  for  the  mere  letter  of  the  his- 
tories, nor  make  any  blind  laws  according  to  your  own  imaginings 
wherewith  you  persecute  one  another.  In  this  you  are  blinder  than 
the  heathen.  Search  for  the  heart  and  spirit  of  the  Scriptures  that 
the  spirit  may  be  born  in  \ou,  and  that  the  center  of  the  Divine 
Love  may  be  unlocked  in  30U.  Thus  you  may  recognise  God  and 
speak  of  him  rightly.  For  out  of  the  histories  merely,  no  one  shall 
call  himself  a  master,  cogniser,  and  knower  of  the  Divine  essence, 
but  out  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  appeareth  in  another  principium 
in  the  center  of  man's  life,  and  only  to  him  who  searches  rightly 
and  seriously." 

Jacob  Bohme  condenses  his  philosophy  in  his  ex- 
planation of  the  frontispiece  of  his  Threefold  Lijc^  where 
he  says : 


156  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"Every  work  indicates  by  its  form,  essence,  and  character, 
the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  its  maker.  Now  if  we  contemplate  the 
grandly  marvellous  edifice  of  the  visible  heaven  and  earth,  consider 
their  motions,  inquire  into  their  efficiencies  and  forces,  and  judge 
of  the  differences  of  the  bodies  of  the  creature,  how  they  are  hard 
and  soft,  gross  and  subtile,  dark  and  radiant,  opaque  and  pellucid, 
heavy  and  light  :  we  shall  at  once  discover  the  twofold  mother  of 
the  revelation  of  God,  viz.,  darkness  and  light  which  have  breathed 
themselves  out  of  all  their  forces  and  sealed  miracles  and  form 
themselves  together  with  the  firmament,  the  stars,  the  elements, 
and  all  the  visible  conceivable  creatures,  where  life  and  death,  good- 
ness and  evil  are  at  once  in  each  thing.  That  is  the  third  of  the 
two  hidden   lives   and  it  is  called  time  contending  with  vanity.  .  .  . 

"  Thus  this  world  standeth  in  the  mixed  life  of  time  between 
light  and  darkness  as  a  genuine  mirror  of  the  two,  in  which  the 
marvels  of  eternity  are  revealed  in  the  form  of  time  through  the 
Word,  as  John  announces.  All  things  were  made  by  it,  and  with- 
out it  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made." 

The  Gnostic  movement  and  especially  its  Jewish 
phase,  manifesting  itself  in  sectarian  life  and  in  the  post- 
canonical  literature,  is  of  greater  importance  than  is  gen- 
erall}'  admitted,  for  it  prepared  the  way  for  Christianity. 
Many  Christian  dogmas,  such  as  the  bodilj-  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  the  Messiah  as  the  son  of  man,  the  approach 
of  the  day  of  judgment,  are  in  the  Old  Testament  Apoc- 
rypha, as  it  were,  tentatively  pronounced.  A  compre- 
hensive formulation  of  the  new  religious  ideals  begins  to 
be  needed ;  and  the  people  find  at  last  in  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth a  leader  whose  powerful  personalit}'  affords  a  centre 
around  which  the  fermenting  innovations  can  cr3'stallise 
into  an  organised  institution,  the  Christian  Church,  des- 
tined to  become  a  new  and  most  influential  factor  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 


EARLY  CHRIvSTlANlTY. 


Jcsits  and  the  'M'eiv  Testament. 

THE  EVIL  ONE  played  an  important  part  in  tlie 
imagination  of  tlie  people  in  the  time  of  Christ. 
Satan  is  mentioned  repeatedly  by  the  scribes  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  in  the  synoptic  gospels,  by  the  Apostles,  es- 
pecially by  St.  Paul,  and  very  often  in  the  revelation  of 
St.  John.  Jesus  follows  the  common  belief  of  the  time  in 
attributing  mental  diseases  to  the  possession  of  demons, 
and  we  may  assume  that  he  shared  the  popular  view. 
Nevertheless,  he  speaks,  upon  the  whole,  less  of  the  Devil 
than  do  his  contemporaries. 

The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels  is  said  to  have  been  tempted 
\>y  the  Devil  in  much  the  same  way  that  Buddha  was 
tempted  by  Mara,  the  Evil  One.  Even  the  details  of  the 
two  stories  of  temptation  possess  many  features  of  resem- 
blance . 

Christ  is  very  impressive  in  depicting  the  evil  con- 
sequences of  sin.  He  compares  the  last  judgment  to  the 
selection  made  by  fishermen  who  gather  the  good  fishes 
into  vessels,  but  cast  the  bad  away  (Math,  xiii.,47). 
He  speaks  of  the  reward    of   "the   good  and  faithful" 


Jesus  Casting  Out  Devils.     (After  Schnorr  von  Carolsteld.) 


The  Fiend,  Sowing  Tares  Among  the  Wheat.   (From  a  German  Picture-Bible.) 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  159 

■while  "the  unprofitable  servant"  will  be  cast  "into 
outer  darkness  where  there  sliall  be  weeping  and  gnash- 
ing of  teeth."  Hell  is  described  as  "the  fire  that  shall 
never  be  quenched"  and  "the  worm  that  dieth  not." 
And  the  wicked  people  are  compared  to  goats  to  whom 
the  Son  of  Man  will  say:  "Depart  from  me  ye  cursed 
ones,  into  everlasting  fire  prepared  for  the  Devil  and  his 
angels." 

Christ  represents  the  Devil  as  the  enemy  that  sows 
tares  among  the  wheat,  and  once  addresses  as  Satan  one 
of  his  favorite  disciples  who  speaks  words  that  might  lead 
him  into  temptation.  We  read  in  Mark,  viii.,  33,  and 
Matth.,  xvi.,  23: 

"He  rebuked  Peter,  saying:  'Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,  for 
thou  savorest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  the  things  that  be 
of  men.'" 

This  fact  alone  appears  sufficient  to  prove  that,  while 
it  is  natural  that  Christ  used  the  traditional  idea  of  Satan 
as  a  personification  of  the  evil  powers  to  furnish  him 
with  materials  for  his  parables,  Satan  to  him  was  mainly 
a  symbol  of  things  wicked  or  morally  evil. 

If  the  Gospel  stories  actually  reflect  the  real  views 
of  the  historical  Jesus,  it  appears  that  his  idea  of  justice 
was  based  on  the  notion  that  the  future  life  would  be  an 
exact  inversion  of  the  present  order  of  things.  According 
to  the  literal  meaning  of  the  language  of  the  parable, 
Dives  is  not  punished  for  his  sins,  and  Lazarus  is  not 
rewarded  for  his  good  deeds  :  the  future  fate  of  the  former 
in  Hell  and  the  latter  in  Heaven  is  the  result  of  an  equal- 
isation, as  we  read  in  Luke  xvi.  25  : 

"But  Abraham  said,  'Son,  remember  that  thou  in  th}'  lifetime 


Dives,  Enjoying  Life,  and  Lazarus  Suffering.    (From  a  German  Picture-Bible.) 


Dives  Tormented  in  Hell.     (Iroin  a  German  Picture-Bible.) 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY. 


161 


receivedst   tliy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things:   hut 
now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented.'" 

And  as  on  earth  Dives  had  the  distress  of  Lazarus 
before  his  eyes,  so  now  Lazarus,  seated  in  the  bosom  of 
Abraham,  sees  with  complacency  the  pains  of  Dives. 


Cast  Into  Outer  Darkness  where  there  Shall  Be  Weeping  and  Gnashing  of 

Teeth. 
(From  a  German  Picture-Bible.) 

The  keynote  of  the  Christian  sentiment  of  the  apos- 
tolic age  is  expressed  in  the  second  epistle  to  the  Thes- 
salonians,  where  St.  Paul  says: 

"Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our  gathering  together  unto  him, 

"That  ye  be  not  soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be  troubled,  neither 
by  spirit,  nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter  as  from  us,  that  the  day  of 
Christ  is  at  hand.  " 


162 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


St.  Paul's  belief  ''that  the  day  of  Christ  is  at  hand" 
is  based  upon  Christ's  own  utterances.  We  read  in 
Mark  ix.  1 : 


IMSff  ;^*£.  .5 -:? 


>Sr-«^.,-.v^ 


^^m' 


■     -i, 


m^ 


The  Day  of  the  Lord.      (After  Michelangelo) 
"And  he  (Jesus)  said  unto  them:    'Verily  I  saj-  unto  you  that 
there  be  some  of  them   that  stand  here  which  shall  not   taste  of 
death  till  they  have  seen   the  kingdom  of  God  come  with  power." 


KART.Y    CHRISTIANITY.  163 

That  in  this  passage  the  second  advent  of  Christ  is 
referred  to  there  can  be  no  doubt,  especially  as  there  are 
parallel  passages  which  are  written  in  the  same  spirit. 
In  Matt.  X.  23,  Christ  declares  that  his  disciples  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  in  Palestine  and  fleeing  from  one  city  to 
another  when  persecuted  for  his  name's  sake,  "shall  not 
have  gone  over  the  cities  of  Israel  till  the  Son  of  Man  be 
come." 

St.  Paul  confidently  expected  that  he  himself  would 
see  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and  in  consideration  of  its  near- 
ness he  deemed  all  worldly  care  unnecessary.  Having 
explained  in  his  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  events  in  Jewish  history  and  the  punish- 
ments of  sinners,  he  adds: 

"Now  all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples,  and 
they  are  written  for  our  admonition  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the 
world  are  come."*     (i  Cor.  x.  ii.) 

When  some  of  the  Thessalonian  Christians  died, 
St.  Paul  comforted  them  by  declaring  that  those  who 
sleep  will  be  resurrected  and  taken  together  up  to  heaven 
with  those  who  survive.  And  the  words  of  Paul  ex- 
pressly implied  that  he  himself,  together  with  the  Thes- 
salonians  whom  he  addresses,  will  remain,  of  which  fact 
he  is  so  sure  as  to  pronounce  his  opinion  as  being  "the 
word  of  the  Lord."     He  says: 

'But  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  concern- 
ing them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not,  even  as  others  which 
have  no  hope. 

*Ta  teXt]  tuv  a'luvuv.     See  also  Hebr.  ix.  26,  where  the  appearance  of  Christ  is 
said  to  have  taken  place  at  the  consummation  of  the  time  (ciri  avvrefeiif  tuv  a'lilivuv). 


164 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


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EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  165 

"For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him. 

"For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  we 
which  are  alive  and  remain  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord  shall  not 
prevent  them  which  are  asleep. 

"For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout, 
with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God;  and 
the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first. 

"Then  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  sliall  be  caught  up  to- 
gether with  them  in  the  clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air:  and  so 
shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord. 

"Wherefore  comfort  one  another  with  these  words." 

When  the  early  disciples  became  more  and  more  dis- 
appointed at  the  non-appearance  of  the  Lord  in  the  clouds 
of  heaven,  a  prominent  leader  of  the  Christian  Church 
wrote  an  epistle  to  revive  their  faith,  which  was  apt  to 
suffer  by  the  ridicule  of  those  who  did  not  share  this  be- 
lief.    We  read  in  the  second  epistle  of  St.  Peter: 

"This  second  epistle,  beloved,  I  now  write  unto  }'0u ;  in  both 
which  I  stir  up  your  pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance : 

"That  ye  may  be  mindful  of  the  words  which  were  spoken  be- 
fore by  the  holy  prophets,  and  of  the  commandment  of  us,  the 
apostles  of  the  Lord  and  Savior: 

"Knowing  this  first,  that  there  shall  come  in  the  last  days 
scoffers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts, 

"And  saying,  'Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  for  since 
the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were  from  the 
beginning  of  the  creation.' 

"  .  .  .  .  The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise,  as  some 
men  count  slackness  ;  but  is  longsuffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing 
that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance. 

"But  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;  in 
the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the 


166  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works 
that  are  therein  shall  be  burnt  up. 

"Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what 
manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  god- 
liness, 

"Looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God, 
wherein  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  ele- 
ments shall  melt  with  fervent  heat? 

"Nevertheless,  we,  according  to  his  promise,  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 

The  present  world  remains  in  the  power  of  Satan 
until  the  prophecy  of  the  second  advent  of  Christ  be  ful- 
filled, and  we  had  better  be  prepared  for  meeting  his  on- 
slaughts;  as  says  the  author  of  the  first  epistle  of  St. 
Peter : 

"Be  sober,  be  vigilant  ;  because  your  adversary,  the  Devil,  as 
a  roaring  lion  walketh  about,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 

In  addition  to  his  old  names  of  Satan,  Beelzebub, 
and  Devil  (which  latter  appears  first  in  Jesus  Sirach) , 
the  Evil  One  is  called  in  the  New  Testament  the  prince 
of  this  world,  the  great  dragon,  the  old  serpent,  the 
prince  of  the  devils,  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air, 
tlie  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of  disbelief, 
the  Antichrist.  Satan  is  represented  as  the  founder  of 
an  empire  that  struggles  with  and  counteracts  the  king- 
dom of  God  upon  earth.  He  is  powerful,  but  less  power- 
ful than  Christ  and  his  angels.  He  is  conquered  and 
doomed  through  Christ,  but  he  is  still  unfettered. 

The  newly  discovered  fourth  book  of  Daniel '''  con- 
tains a  story  which  characterises  the  expectations  of  the 

*  Edited  by  Dr    Ed,  Bratke.  Bonn,  iSgi. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  167 

early  Church.  We  read  of  a  certain  man,  holding  the 
office  of  president  (Tr/jofor&j?)  in  a  Christian  congregation 
of  Syria : 

"He  persuaded  many  of  the  brethren,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  to  go  out  into  the  wilderness  to  meet  the  Christ,  and  they 
went  wandering  in  the  mountains  and  wastes,  there  losing  their 
way  ;  and  the  end  was  that  all  but  a  few  were  apprehended  as  rob- 
bers and  would  have  been  executed  by  the  mayor  of  the  city  (j]ys- 
nwv')  had  it  not  been  that  his  wife  was  a  believer  and  that  in  re- 
sponse to  her  entreaties  he  put  a  stop  to  the  proceedings  to  prevent 
a  persecution  arising  because  of  them." 

Cases  of  this  kind  happened  frequently.  We  read  of 
another  Christian  officer  (also  a  npoeaToo?)  in  Pontus  that 
he  also  "preached  the  approaching  day  of  judgment : 

"He  brought  the  brethren  to  such  a  pitch  of  fear  and  trem- 
bling that  they  abandoned  their  lands  and  fields,  letting  them  be- 
come waste,  and  sold,  the  most  of  them,  their  possessions." 

The  belief  in  the  imminent  approach  of  the  day  of 
judgment  waned  during  the  third  century,  but  was  tem- 
porarily revived  in  the  year  1000,  which  was  commonly 
believed  to  be  the  end  of  the  millennium  prophesied  by 
St.  John  the  Divine  in  the  Revelation.  The  disorder  and 
misery  which  resulted  from  the  foolish  acts  that  people 
committed  in  anticipation  of  the  approaching  day  of  judg- 
ment all  over  Christendom  are  beyond  description.  Some 
squandered  their  property  in  order  to  enjoy  the  last  days 
of  their  lives ;  some  sold  all  the}^  had  and  gave  to  the 
poor ;  some  invested  all  their  possessions  in  masses  and 
Church  donations ;  and  thus  almost  all  who  were  filled 
with  the  belief  in  the  coming  of  the  Lord  fell  a  prey  to 
the  most  wretched  poverty  and  distress.' 


16S  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Jewish-  Christian  Eschatology. 

The  Revelation  of  St.  John,  written  between  68  and 
70  A.D.,  after  Nero's  death  and  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  propounds  the  eschatology  of  ^2Lx\y  Chris- 
tianity, which  closely  follows  such  traditions  of  the  Jews 
as  are  preserved  in  the  prophetic  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Apocrypha. 

The  author  of  the  Revelation  is  a  Jew-Christian, 
who  in  the  name  of  the  son  of  man  informs  the  seven 
churches  of  Asia  Minor  that  God  hates  the  Nicolaitanes 
(i.,  6  and  15),  an  antinomistic  sect  among  the  Gnostics 
who  according  to  Irenaeus  (I.,  Chap.  26)  regarded  the 
Mosaic  law,  the  nomos,  as  unessential  to  salvation.  The 
warning  given  out  against  ' '  those  who  say  that  they  are 
Apostles  and  are  not"  seems  to  be  directed  against  St. 
Paul,  who,  like  the  Nicolaitanes,  is  also  known  for  his 
strong  antinomistic  principles  and  finding  no  sin  in  eat- 
ing with  pagans,  even  though  the  meat  might  have  been 
offered  as  a  sacrifice  to  idols.* 

An  unpleasant  denunciation  of  a  follower  of  anti- 
nomistic, i.  e.,  Pauline  Christianity  in  the  city  of  Thj^a- 
tira,  is  mentioned  in  chapter  ii.,  verses  20-29,  which 
probably  has  reference  to  Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple,  who 
was  baptised  by  Paul  (Acts  xvi.  14-15).  The  great 
promises  of  the  Lord  offered  to  the  faithful  through  John 
the  Divine,  are  strictly  limited  to  the  Jew  Christian,  to 
him  who  keeps  the  law  and  holds  fast  to  it  till  Christ's 
second  advent  (ii.   25) .     As  a  I'eward  Christ,  according 

*Rom.  14  and  i  Cor    8. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY. 


169 


to  John  the  Divine's  vision,  allows  him  the  great  pleas- 
ure of  destroying  the  Gentiles,  saying: 

"And  he  that  overcometh   and   keej)eth   my  works   (i.  e.,  the 
law)  unto  the  end,  to  him  will   I   give  the  power  over  the  nations; 


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u 


and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  as  the  vessels  of  a  potter 
shall  they  be  broken  to  shivers ;  even  as  I  received  from  my 
Father." 


170 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


St.  John  believes  that  the  judgment  of  the  world  is 
near  at  hand.     The  Lamb  opens  the  seven  seals,  and  four 


CO 


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o 


Ws^ 


']jss^t^ 


men  on  horseback,  one  with  a  crown,  one  with  a  sword, 
one  with  a  pair  of  balances,  and  the  last  one  Death,  fol- 
lowed bj'  Hell,  are  let  loose.      The  martyrs  of  God  re- 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  171 

ceive  white  robes,  the  sun  becomes  black  as  sackcloth, 
and  the  moon  becomes  as  blood.  Then  an  angel  pro- 
nounces a  triple  woe  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth. 
The  pit  is  opened  and  four  angels  who  had  been  bound 
are  loosed  to  slay  the  third  part  of  men.  A  struggle 
en.sues  between  a  women  that  travaileth  and  the  dragon, 
but  the  dragon  is  cast  down.  A  beast  with  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns  appears  ;  another  beast  follows  and  makes 
an  image  of  the  first  beast  that  should  be  worshipped  by 
men.  "The  number  of  the  beast"  is  "six  hundred  and 
three  score  and  six,"  which  according  to  cabali.stic  sym- 
bolism means  "Nero."  The  Roman  Emperor  is  thus 
regarded  as  an  incarnation  of  Satan,  and  for  a  short  time 
power  is  given  to  the  pagan  government  over  the  world. 
But  the  victorious  Lamb  stands  on  Mount  Zion ;  the 
Gospel  is  preached,  and  the  sickle  of  the  harvest  is  read^? 
for  gathering  in  the  clusters  of  the  vine.  Then  the  seven 
vials  of  wrath  are  poured  out  upon  mankind.  The  city 
"which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth"  (i.e., 
Rome),  the  old  Bab3don,  the  mother  of  abominations, 
shall  fall,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  are  called  to  fill  them- 
selves with  the  flesh  of  the  slain.  Satan  is  bound  for  a 
thousand  years,  but  let  loose  again.  In  a  final  struggle, 
Gog  and  Magog  are  conquered,  whereupon  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth  are  created.  A  heavenly  Jerusalem  de- 
scends upon  earth  and  the  twelve  tribes  inhabit  the  city, 
which  needs  no  sun  because  God  is  its  light.  The  pagan 
Christians  remain  outside:  "The  nations  of  them  which 
are  saved  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it,  and  the  kings  of 
the  earth  bring  their  glor}-  and  honor  into  it." 

Such  is  briefly  the  contents  of  the  Revelation  of  St. 


172 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


The  Woman  of  Abomination. 
After  the  Revelation  of  St.  John.      (By  Albrecht  Durer.' 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  173 

John  the  Divine,  which  is  a  very  important  book,  as  it 
embodies  the  views  of  the  early  Jew-Christians  concern- 
ing God's  plan  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  the 
powers  of  evil  play  in  it  a  most  important  part. 

The  main  prophecy  of  the  Jewish  Christian  anthor 
of  the  revelation  remained  unfulfilled.  By  a  strange  irony 
of  fate  Judaic  Christianity  disappeared  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  while  Rome  became  the  centre  of  the  Gentile 
Christianity,  in  which  capacity  she  rose  almost  to  more 
glorious  power  than  pagan  Rome  ever  possessed  through 
her  political  superiority.  Christianity  was  thoroughly 
Romanised  and  remained  under  the  sway  of  Rome  until 
the  Reformation  split  the  Church  in  twain  and  opened 
new  possibilities  for  a  progressive  development  of  Chris- 
tianity, no  longer  subject  to  the  dictates  of  a  conclave  of 
Italian  cardinals  and  a  Roman  pope. 

The  Descent  Into  Hell. 

The  belief  in  Satan  and  Hell  form  an  essential  part 
of  early  Christianity,  and  Christ  was  believed  immedi- 
ately after  his  death  on  the  cross  to  have  battled  with  and 
to  have  conquered  the  prince  of  hell.  Although  the  old- 
est manuscripts  of  the  so-called  Apostle's  Creed  do  not 
contain  the  passage  "descended  into  hell,"  which  is  an 
addition  of  the  seventh  century,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  idea  actually  prevailed  as  early  as  the  second 
century.  The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  which  is  commonly 
regarded  as  a  product  of  the  third  century,  dwells  on  this 
part  of  the  Christian  belief  and  offers  a  detailed  account 
of  Christ's  descent  into  Hell,  which  in  Chapters  xv-xvi 
reads  as  follows : 


174  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"Satan,  the  prince  and  captain  of  death,  said  to  the  prince  of 
hell.  Prepare  to  receive  Jesus  of  Nazareth  himself,  who  boasted 
that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  was  a  man  afraid  of  death, 
and  said.  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful  even  unto  death.*  Besides 
he  did  many  injuries  to  me  and  to  many  others  ;  for  those  whom  I 
made  blind  and  lame  and  those  also  whom  I  tormented  with  several 
devils,  he  cured  by  his  word  ;  yea,  and  those  whom  I  brought  dead 
to  thee,  he  by  force  takes  away  from  thee. 

"To  this  the  prince  of  hell  replied  to  Satan,  Who  is  that  so 
powerful  prince,  and  yet  a  man  who  is  afraid  of  death?  For  all 
the  potentates  of  the  earth  are  subject  to  my  power,  whom  thou 
broughtest  to  subjection  by  thy  power.  But  if  he  be  so  powerful 
in  his  nature,  I  affirm  to  thee  for  truth,  that  he  is  almighty  in  his 
divine  nature,  and  no  man  can  resist  his  power.  When,  therefore, 
he  said  he  was  afraid  of  death,  he  designed  to  ensnare  thee,  and 
imhappy  it  will  be  to  thee  for  everlasting  ages. 

"Then  Satan,  replying,  said  to  the  prince  of  hell.  Why  didst 
thou  express  a  doubt,  and  wast  afraid  to  receive  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
both  thy  adversary  and  mine?  As  for  me,  I  tempted  him  and 
stirred  up  my  old  people,  the  Jews,  with  zeal  and  anger  against 
him.  I  sharpened  the  spear  for  his  suffering  ;  I  mixed  the  gall  and 
vinegar,  and  commanded  that  he  should  drink  it ;  I  prepared  the 
cross  to  crucify  him,  and  the  nails  to  pierce  through  his  hands  and 
feet ;  and  now  his  death  is  near  at  hand,  I  will  bring  him  hither, 
subject  both  to  thee  and  me. 

"Then  the  prince  of  hell  answering  said.  Thou  saidst  to  me 
just  now,  that  he  took  away  the  dead  from  me  by  force.  They  who 
have  been  kept  here  till  they  should  live  again  upon  earth  were 
taken  away  hence,  not  by  their  own  power,  but  by  prayers  made  to 
God,  and  their  almighty  God  took  them  from  me.  Who,  then,  is 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  that  by  his  word  hath  taken  away  the  dead 
from  me  without  prayer  to  God?  Perhaps  it  is  the  same  who  took 
away  from  me  Lazarus,  after  he  had  been  four  days  dead,  and  did 

*See  Matth.,  xx%'i    38. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  175 

l)oth  stink  and  was  rotten,  and  of  whom  I  had  possession  as  a  dead 
person,  yet  he  brought  him  to  hfo  again  by  liis  power. 

"Satan,  answering,  said  to  the  prince  of  hell,  It  is  the  very 
same  person,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which,  when  the  prince  of  hell 
heard,  he  said  to  him,  I  adjure  thee  by  the  powers  which  belong 
to  thee  and  me,  that  thou  bring  him  not  to  me.  For  when  I  heard 
of  the  power  of  his  word,  I  trembled  for  fear,  and  all  my  impious 
company  were  at  the  same  time  disturbed  ;  and  we  were  not  able  to 
detain  Lazarus,  but  he  gave  himself  a  shake,  and  with  all  the  signs 
of  malice  he  immediately  went  away  from  us;  and  the  very  earth 
in  which  the  dead  body  of  Lazarus  was  lodged,  presently  turned 
him  out  alive.  And  I  know  now  that  he  is  Almighty  God  who 
could  perform  such  things,  who  is  mighty  in  his  dominion,  and 
mighty  in  his  human  nature,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  Bring 
not,  therefore,  his  person  hither,  for  he  will  set  at  liberty  all  those 
whom  I  hold  in  prison  under  unbelief,  and  bound  with  the  fetters 
of  their  sins,  and  will  conduct  them  to  everlasting  life. 

"And  while  Satan  and  the  prince  of  hell  were  discoursing  thus 
to  each  other,  on  a  sudden  there  was  a  voice  as  of  thunder  and  the 
rushing  of  winds,  saj'ing.  Lift  up  your  gates,  O  ye  princes  ;  and  be 
ye  lift  up,  O  everlasting  gates,  and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in. 

"When  the  prince  of  hell  heard  this,  he  said  to  Satan,  Depart 
from  me  and  begone  out  of  my  habitations  ;  if  thou  art  a  powerful 
warrior,  fight  with  the  King  of  Glory.  But  what  hast  thou  to  do 
with  him?  And  then  he  cast  him  forth  from  his  habitations.  And 
the  prince  said  to  his  impious  officers.  Shut  the  brass  gates  of  cru- 
elty and  make  them  fast  with  iron  bars,  and  fight  courageously, 
lest  we  be  taken  captives. 

"  But  when  all  the  company  of  the  saints  heard  this  they  spake 
with  a  loud  voice  of  anger  to  the  prince  of  hell.  Open  thy  gates 
that  the  King  of  Glory  may  come  in. 

"And  the  divine  prophet  David  cried  out,  saying.  Did  not  I 
when  on  earth  truly  prophesy  and  say,  O  that  men  would  praise 
the  Lord  for  his  goodness  and  for  his  wonderful  works  to  the  chil- 
dren of  men.      For  he  hath  broken  the  gates  of  brass,  and  cut  the 


176 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


s 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  177 

bars  of  iron  in  sunder.  He  hath  taken  tliem  because  of  tlicir  in- 
iquity, and  because  of  their  unrighteousness  they  are  afflicted. 

"After  this  another  prophet,  namely,  holy  Isaiah,  spake  in 
like  manner  to  all  the  saints,  Did  not  I  rightly  prophesy  to  you 
when  I  was  alive  on  earth?  The  dead  men  shall  live,  and  they 
shall  rise  again  who  are  in  their  graves,  and  they  shall  rejoice  who 
are  in  earth  ;  for  the  dew  which  is  from  the  Lord  shall  bring  de- 
liverance to  them.  And  I  said  in  another  place,  O  death,  where  is 
thy  victory?     O  death,  where  is  thy  sting? 

"When  all  the  saints  heard  these  things  spoken  by  Isaiah, 
tliey  said  to  the  prince  of  hell,  Open  now  thy  gates,  and  take  away 
thine  iron  bars,  for  thou  wilt  now  be  bound,  and  have  no  power. 

"Then  there  was  a  great  voice,  as  of  the  sound  of  thunder, 
saying.  Lift  up  your  gates,  O  princes ;  and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye 
gates  of  hell,  and  the  King  of  Glory  will  enter  in. 

"The  prince  of  hell  perceiving  the  same  voice  repeated,  cried 
out  as  though  he  had  been  ignorant.  Who  is  that  King  of  Glory? 
David  replied  to  the  prince  of  hell,  and  said,  I  understand  the 
words  of  that  voice,  because  I  spake  them  bj'  his  spirit.  And  now, 
as  I  have  above  said,  I  say  unto  thee,  the  Lord  strong  and  power- 
ful, the  Lord  mighty  in  battle  :  he  is  the  King  of  Glory,  and  he  is 
the  Lord  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  He  hath  looked  down  to  hear 
the  groans  of  the  prisoners,  and  to  set  loose  those  that  are  ap- 
pointed to  death.  And  now,  thou  filthy  and  stinking  prince  of 
hell,  open  thy  gates,  that  the  King  of  Glory  may  enter  in  ;  for  he 
is  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth. 

"While  David  was  saying  this,  the  mighty  Lord  appeared  in 
the  Form  of  a  man,  and  enlightened  those  places  which  had  ever 
before  been  in  darkness,  and  broke  asunder  the  fetters  which  be- 
fore could  not  be  broken  ;  and  with  his  invincible  power  visited 
those  who  sate  in  the  deep  darkness  by  iniquity,  and  the  shadow  of 
death  by  sin.  Impious  Death  and  her  cruel  officers  hearing  these 
things,  were  seized  with  fear  in  their  several  kingdoms,  when  they 
saw  the  clearness  of  the  light,  and  Christ  himself  on  a  sudden  ap- 
pearing in  their  habitations  ;  they  cried   out   therefore,   and  said. 


178  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

We  are  bound  by  thee  ;  thou  seemest  to  intend  our  confusion  be- 
fore the  Lord.  Who  art  thou,  wlio  hast  no  sign  of  corruption, 
but  that  bright  appearance  which  is  a  full  proof  of  thy  greatness,  of 
which  yet  thou  seemest  to  take  no  notice?  Who  art  thou,  so  power- 
ful and  so  weak,  so  great  and  so  little,  a  mean  and  yet  a  soldier  of 
the  first  rank,  who  can  command  in  the  form  of  a  servant  as  a  com- 
mon soldier?  The  King  of  Glory,  dead  and  alive,  though  once 
slain  upon  the  cross?  Who  layest  dead  in  the  grave,  and  art  come 
down  alive  to  us,  and  in  thy  death  all  the  creatures  trembled,  and 
all  the  stars  were  moved,  and  now  hast  thou  th)'  liberty  among  the 
dead,  and  givest  disturbance  to  our  legions?  Who  art  thou,  who 
dost  release  the  captives  that  were  held  in  chains  by  original  sin, 
and  bringest  them  into  their  former  liberty?  Who  art  thou,  who 
dost  spread  so  glorious  and  divine  a  light  over  those  who  were 
made  blind  by  the  darkness  of  sin  ? 

"  In  like  manner  all  the  legions  of  devils  were  seized  with  the 
like  horror,  and  with  the  most  submissive  fear  cried  out,  and  said. 
Whence  comes  it,  O  thou  Jesus  Christ,  that  thou  art  a  man  so 
powerful  and  glorious  in  majesty,  so  bright  as  to  have  no  spot,  and 
so  pure  as  to  have  no  crime?  Then  the  King  of  Glory  trampling 
upon  death,  seized  the  prince  of  hell,  deprived  him  of  all  his  power, 
and  took  our  earthly  father  Adam  with  him  to  his  glory. 

"Then  the  prince  of  hell  took  Satan,  and  with  great  indigna- 
tion said  to  him,  O  thou  prince  of  destruction,  author  of  Beelze- 
bub's defeat  and  banishment,  the  scorn  of  God's  angels  and  loathed 
by  all  righteous  persons  !  What  inclined  thee  to  act  thus?  Why 
didst  thou  venture  w-ithout  either  reason  or  justice,  to  crucif}'  him, 
and  hast  brought  down  to  our  regions  a  person  innocent  and  right- 
eous, and  thereby  hast  lost  all  the  sinners,  impious  and  unrighteous 
persons  in  the  whole  world? 

"While  the  prince  of  hell  was  thus  speaking  to  Satan,  the 
King  of  Glory  said  to  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  hell,  Satan  the 
prince  shall  be  subject  to  thy  dominion  forever,  in  the  room  of 
Adam  and  his  righteous  sons,  who  are  mine.  Then  Jesus  stretched 
forth  his  hand,  and  said,  Come  to  me,  all  ye  saints,  who  are  created 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  179 

in  my  image,  who  were  condemned  by  the  tree  of  the  forbidden 
fruit,  and  by  the  devil  and  death  ;  live  now  by  the  wood  of  my 
cross  ;  the  devil,  the  prince  of  this  world,  is  overcome,  and  death 
is  conquered." 

Hell. 

The  idea  of  Hell  among  the  early  Christians  has 
found  a  detailed  description  in  the  revelation  of  St.  Peter, 
which  was  counted  as  canonical  by  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria who  annotated  it  together  with  the  Catholic  Epis- 
tles, while  the  Muratorian  Fragment  mentions  it  as  i) 
book  of  the  New  Testament.  According  to  the  testimony 
of  Sozomenos  it  was  read  in  some  of  the  churches  of  Pal- 
estine annually,  as  a  preparation  for  the  celebration  of 
Easter  in  about  440  A.  D.*  It  was  used  in  Rome  and 
Alexandria  at  the  end  of  the  second  century,  together  with 
the  revelation  of  St.  John,  where,  according  to  Eusebius, 
both  writings  belonged  to  the  contested  canonical  books, 
that  is  to  say,  they  were  received  as  canonical  but  not 
without  protest  in  some  quarters. 

According  to  the  revelation  of  St.  Peter,  Heaven  and 
Hell  are  places.  Heaven  is  described  by  St.  Peter  as 
follows  :t 

"And  I  spake  to  him  (the  Lord):  'And  where  are  the  just,  and 
what  is  their  aeon  in  which  they  that  possess  this  glory  live?'  And 
the  Lord  showed  me  a  large  space  outside  of  this  world  overflowed 
with  light,  and  the  air  there  was  illuminated  all  through  by  the 
rays  of  the  sun.  And  the  earth  itself  was  blooming  with  unfading 
flowers,  and  filled  with  sweet  odors,  and  grandly  blossoming  and 
imperishable  and  blessed  fruit-bearing   plants.      Such  was  the  ful- 

*See  Harnack,  BruchstiUke  des  Ei'anffiiiunts  uiid  der  Afokalypse  des  Pe- 
trus,  p.  5-6. 

■f  Translated  into  English  from  HarnacU's  edition. 


180 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


ness  of  flowers  that  the  sweet  odor  thence  penetrated  even  unto  us. 
The  inhabitants  of  that  space  were  clothed  with  the  robes  of  radi- 
ant angels;  and  similar  were  their  robes  to  their  surroundings. 
Angels  were  hovering  about  them.  The  glory  of  all  who  lived 
there  was  the  same,  and  with  one  voice  they  sang  in  gladness  re- 
sponsive hymns  of  praise  to  God  the  Lord  in  that  place.  Said  the 
Lord  to  us:  'That  is  the  place  of  your  high  priests,  of  the  just 
people.' " 


Christian  Representation  of  the  Last  Judgment. 
Sculptures  on  the  main  entrance  of  the  Cathedral  at  Bourges.  France.     Four- 
teenth century.     (Reproduced  from  fClassisc!ie>-  Skulftiu-oisc/iatz.) 


Hell  is  described  in  the  following  words : 

"And  I  saw  another  place  right  opposite,  rough  and  being  the 
place  of  punishment.  And  those  who  are  punished  there  and  the 
punishing  angels  had  their  robes  dark  ;  as  the  color  of  the  air  of 
the  place  is  also  dark :  and  some  people  were  hung  up  by  their 
tongues  :  they  were  those  who  had  blasphemed  the  path  of  right- 
eousness ;   and  underneath  them  a  bright  baneful  fire  was  lit.     And 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY. 


ISl 


there  was  a  pit  large  and  filled  with  burning  dirt  {fiop/iopo^),  in 
which  several  people  stuck  who  had  perverted  justice,  and  the 
avenging  angels  assaulted  them.  There  were  others  there  ;  women 
hung  up  by  their  braids  above  the  seething  dirt.  Tliey  were  those 
who  had  adorned  themselves  for  adultery  ;  but  those  who  had  soiled 
themselves  with  the  miasma  of  the  adultery  of  those  women  were 
hung  up  by  their  feet  and  had  their  heads  in  the  dirt,  and  I  said, 
'I  did  not  believe  that  I  should  enter  into  this  place.'      I  saw  mur- 


Christian  Representation  of  Hell, 
Sculptures  on  the  main  entrance  of  the  Cathedral  at  Bourges.  France.      Four- 
teenth century.     (Reproduced  from  A'/nssisc/icr  Skulpli<re>!schaU .) 

derers  and  their  accomplices  thrown  into  a  narrow  place  filled  with 
evil  vermin  and  tormented  by  those  animals  and  sqiiirming  under 
this  punishment.  Worms  like  dark  clouds  assaulted  them.  The 
souls  of  the  murdered  people,  however,  stood  b)'  and  gazed  at  the 
punishment  of  their  murderers  and  said:  'O  God,  just  is  thy  judg- 
ment.' But  near  unto  that  place  I  saw  a  place  of  torment  in  which 
the  blood  and  the  stench  of  the  punished  flowed  down  so  as  to 


182  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

make  a  pool,  and  there  were  women  to  whom  the  blood  reached 
up  to  the  neck  ;  opposite  them  many  infants  sat  who  had  been 
brought  into  the  world  before  their  season,  and  they  were  weeping. 
And  fiery  rays  proceeded  from  the  children  and  bit  the  eyes  of  the 
women.  For  they  were  the  cursed  ones  who  had  conceived  and 
made  abortions.  And  there  were  men  and  women  standing  in 
flames  with  half  their  bodies,  and  they  were  thrown  into  a  dark 
place  and  were  scourged  by  evil  spirits.  And  they  were  devoured 
in  their  bowels  by  worms  which  do  not  die.  They  were  those  who 
had  persecuted  the  righteous  and  surrendered  them  ;  and  near  by 
to  those  again  were  women  and  men  who  bit  their  lips  and  were 
punished  and  received  hot  irons  on  their  eyes.  They  were  those 
who  had  blasphemed  and  betrayed  the  path  of  righteousness.  Op- 
posite them  were  other  men  and  women  who  bit  their  tongues  and 
liad  burning  fire  in  their  mouths.  They  were  those  who  bore  false 
witness.  In  another  place  were  flints  sharper  than  swords  and 
lances,  rendered  burning  hot,  and  women  and  men  in  dirty  rags 
were  wallowing  on  them  in  torment.  They  were  the  rich  and  those 
who  relying  on  their  riches  had  not  taken  compassion  on  orphan'; 
and  widows,  who  had  a  contempt  for  the  commands  of  God.  In 
another  large  field  with  matter  and  blood  and  seething  dirt  were 
those  who  take  interest  and  interest  on  interest.  Other  men  and 
women  were  thrown  from  a  high  precipice,  and  having  reached  the 
bottom  were  urged  up  again  by  their  assaulters  to  climb  the  preci 
pice,  and  were  then  again  thrown  down,  and  they  were  given  no 
respite  from  this  torment.  They  were  those  who  had  polluted 
their  own  bodies.*.  .  .  And  by  the  side  of  this  precipice  was  a  place 
which  was  filled  entirely  with  fire,  and  there  stood  the  people  who 
had  made  with  their  own  hands  carved  images  and  worshipped 
them  instead  of  God,  and  near  them  were  men  and  women  with 
switches  who  beat  them  and  did  not  cease  from  this  castigation. 
And  again  other  women  and  men  stood  near  by,  burning,  and  wrig- 
gling, and  roasting.  They  were  those  wHo  had  left  the  path  of 
God." 

*We  prefer  to  omit  further  details. 


HAKLV  CHRISTIANITY.  183 

Another  description  of  Hell  ac-cordinsT  to  the  views 
of  the  Christian  Gnostics  of  the  third  century  is  con- 
tained in  the  Pistis  Sophia  ■,  where  all  the  places  of  tor- 
ment are  described  at  considerable  length  in  all  details. 
"It  is  remarkable,"  says  Professor  Harnack,*  "that  the 
Pistis  Sophia  anticipates  on  this  subject  as  well  as  in 
many  other  respects  the  development  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  It  insists  on  the  power  of  salvation  of  the  sacra- 
ments, of  the  mysteries,  of  penance,  and  ascetic  practicfes. 
At  the  same  time  it  recognises  Apostolic  authority,  and 
attempts  in  every  respect  to  base  its  doctrines  on  the 
canon  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament."  Its  date  has 
been  fixed  with  great  accuracy  on  the  second  part  of  the 
third  century. t  This  strange  book  contains  questions  of 
Mary  and  of  some  of  the  apostles,  which  Christ  after  his 
resurrection  answers  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  it  is 
probably  identical  with  a  gnostic  book  mentiond  by  Epi- 
phanius  under  the  title  The  Minor  Questions  oj  Mary. 
Harnack  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  book  is  an 
evidence  of  the  astonishing  agreement  of  this  later  Gnos- 
ticism with  later  Catholic  Christianity.  The  author  of 
the  Pistis  Sophia  is  apparently  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Syrian  Gnosticism  or  Ophitism  ;  but  he  wrote  in  Egypt 
where  the  Syrian  Gnostics  exercised  quite  a  powerful  in- 
fluence. The  revelation  of  mysteries  culminates  in  the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  identity  with  his  disciples,  which  is 
uttered  repeatedly  and  with  emphasis.  J     The  peculiarly 

*See  Harnack,  Texle  rind  Untersticliungen,  etc.,  p.  98. 

\  Ibid. ,  pp.  94  et  seq . 

J  "  Qui  acceperit  fivavr/pioi'  Ineffabilis,  ille  est  ego." — "  Ego  sum  isti,  isti  sum 
ego." — "  Ego  sum  mysterium  illud." — "Vis  quae  est  in  vobis,  e  me  est."  Harnack 
says  (p.  30):   "These  brief  significant  sentences  are  not  invented  by  the  author  who 


184  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Gnostic  features  of  the  book  consist  in  the  idea  of  re- 
incarnation. So,  for  instance,  St.  John  is  directly  said 
to  be  a  reincarnation  of  Elias,  and  the  Apostles  are,  as 
much  as  Christ,  regarded  as  being  possessed  of  a  mysti- 
cal pre-existence. 

The  Pis/is  Sophia  reveals  all  the  m^-steries  of  the 
world,  among  them  the  ni3-steries  of  Hell,  or,  as  the 
Egyptians  called  it,  Amenti,  which  is  described  as  fel- 
low's : 

"And  Mary  continued  further  and  said  unto  Jesus:  'Again, 
Master,  of  what  type  is  the  outer  darkness?  How  many  regions  of 
punishment  are  there  therein?' 

"And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  Mary  :  'The  outer  dark- 
ness is  a  huge  dragon,  with  its  tail  in  its  mouth  ;  it  is  outside  the 
world  and  surroundeth  it  completely.*  There  are  many  regions  of 
punishment  therein,  for  there  are  in  it  twelve  [main]  dungeons  of 
horrible  torment. 

"  '  In  each  dungeon  there  is  a  ruler  ;  and  the  faces  of  the  rulers 
are  all  different  from  one  another. 

"'The  first  ruler,  in  the  first  dungeon,  is  crocodile  faced,  and 
it  hath  its  tail  in  its  mouth.  From  the  jaws  of  this  dragon  there 
come  forth  cold  of  every  kind  and  freezing,  and  all  diseases  of 
every  kind  :  it  is  called  by  its  authentic  name,  in  its  region,  Ench- 
thonin. 

"  'And  the  ruler  in  the  second  dungeon  ;  its  authentic  face  is  a 
cat's  :   it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Charachar. 

"'And  the  ruler  in  the  third  dungeon;  its  authentic  face  is  a 
dog's :  it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Acharoch. 

"'And  the  ruler  in  the  fourth  dungeon;  its  authentic  face  is 
a  serpent's:   it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Achrochar. 

makes  his  Christ  express  himself  in  quite  different  sermons:  they  point,  in  my 
opinion,  to  an  older  gnostic  book,  or  a  gnostic  gospel." 

*This  reminds  us  of  the  myths  of  the  Midgard-serpent  and  anticipates  the  in- 
numerable mediaeval  representations  of  Hell  as  a  big-mouthed  dragon. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY. 


185 


O  get!  "Jtfa  iSttfie/bct  &u  ole  cin  fficnget  uiife  gcrcc^tct  tn^ttt  ixtArmi  fiinUcic  f<di  f»fi(tf 
xonbiti/iflbwcrffcn/em  x>nmt'tli(§e  ^effifd)cftrfl(f  »croi{>net8(JJ{bff  iiic(fcr»x)n^''Ji*>"^ 
f  nfemmttvcr(loffftic5(i(tcvnbx>fr6amptcti:J(§liittJ)ic§'Vctl(^Kmit  cm  v«6icnftlicl)'Ube 

Kic  in  5tit  bergnafecn  4lf»  futcn'&j  ic^  tcilgufft  Seine  bittetc  flcrben/mtnnnen  tno<t  folicS't 


The  Typical  Conception  of  Hell. 
German  Woodcut  of  the  age  of  the  Reformation. 


186  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"'And  the  ruler  in  the  fifth  dungeon  ;  its  authentic  face  is  a 
black  bull's  :  it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Marchour. 

"  'And  the  ruler  in  the  sixth  dungeon  ;  its  authentic  face  is  a 
boar's:    it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Lamchamor. 

"  'And  the  ruler  in  the  seventh  dungeon  ;  its  authentic  face  is 
a  bear's:   it  is  called,  in  its  region,  by  its  authentic  name.  Louchar. 

"  'And  the  ruler  in  the  eighth  dungeon  ;  its  authentic  face  is  a 
vulture's:  it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Laraoch. 

"'And  the  ruler  in  the  ninth  dungeon;  its  authentic  face  is  a 
basilisk's:  it  is  called,  in  its  region,  Archeoch. 

"'And  in  the  tenth  dungeon  are  manj- rulers  ;  each  of  them, 
in  its  authentic  face,  hath  seven  dragons'  heads:  and  that  which  is 
above  them  all,  in  their  region,  is  called  Xarmaroch. 

"'And  in  the  eleventh  dungeon,  in  this  region  also,  are  many 
rulers  ;  each  of  them,  with  authentic  faces,  hath  seven  cats'  heads  : 
and  the  great  one  that  is  over  them,  is  called,  in  their  region, 
Rhochar. 

"'And  in  the  twelfth  dungeon  there  are  also  man}' rulers  ex- 
ceedingly numerous,  each  of  them  in  its  authentic  face,  hath  seven 
dogs'  heads  :  and  the  great  one  that  is  over  them,  is  called  in  their 
region,  Chremaor. 

"'These  rulers,  then,  of  these  twelve  dungeons,  which  are  in 
the  inside  of  the  dragon  of  outer  darkness,  each  hath  a  name  for 
every  hour,  and  each  of  them  changeth  its  face  every  hour. 

"  'And  each  of  these  dungeons  hath  a  door  which  openeth  to 
the  height,  so  that  the  dragon  of  outer  darkness  containeth  twelve 
dungeons  of  darkness,  each  of  which  hath  a  door  that  openeth  to 
the  height  ;  and  an  angel  of  the  height  watched  at  each  of  the 
doors  of  the  dungeons. 

"'These  leou,*  the  first  man,  the  overseer  of  the  light,  the 
ancient  of  the  first  statute,  hath  set  to  watch  over  the  dragon,  lest 


*The  idea  of  ' '  leou,  the  first  man,  the  overseer  of  the  light,  the  ancient  of- the 
first  statue,"  reminds  us  of  the  archetypal  man  of  Simon  Magus  and  other  Gnostics 
and  also  of  the  Adam  of  the  Cabala. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  187 

the  dragon  and  its  rulers  should  turn  the  dungeons  that  are  in  it, 
upside  down.' 

"And  when  the  saviour  had  thus  spoken,  Mary  Magdalene  an- 
swered and  said:  'Master,  are  the  souls,  then,  that  are  brought 
into  that  .region,  led  into  it  by  these  twelve  doors,  by  each  accord- 
ing to  the  judgment  they  have  merited?' 

"The  saviour  answered  and  said  unto  Mary:  'No  soul  is 
brought  into  the  dragon  by  these  doors;  but  the  souls  of  blasphem- 
ers, and  of  them  that  remain  in  the  doctrines  of  error,  and  of  those 
who  teach  such  doctrines,  and  also  of  them  that  have  intercourse 
with  males,  of  the  polluted  and  impious,  atheists,  murderers,  adul- 
terers, sorcerers,  all  souls,  then,  of  this  kind,  if  they  have  not  re- 
pented wliile  still  in  life,  and  have  remained  persistently  in  their 
sin,  and  all  the  other  souls  which  have  remained  without  [the 
light-world],  that  is  to  say,  who  have  exhausted  the  number  of  the 
cycles  apportioned  to  them  in  the  sphere  without  repenting, — they 
take  hold  of  these  souls,  in  their  last  cycle,  them  and  all  the  souls 
which  I  have  just  enumerated  to  you,  and  carry  them  through  the 
opening  in  the  tail  of  the  dragon  into  the  dungeons  of  the  outer 
darkness.  And  when  they  have  finished  bringing  those  souls  into 
the  outer  darkness  by  the  opening  in  its  tail,  it  putteth  back  its  tail 
again  into  its  mouth  and  shutteth  them  in.  This  is  the  way  in 
which  souls  are  brought  into  the  outer  darkness.* 

"'And  the  dragon  of  the  outer  darkness  hath  twelve  authentic 
names  which  are  written  on  its  doors,  a  name  for  the  door  of  every 
dungeon  ;  and  these  twelve  names  are  all  different  from  one  another, 
but  all  twelve  are  contained  one  in  the  other,  so  that  he  who  utter- 
eth  one  name  will  utter  all.  And  these  will  I  tell  you,  when  I  ex- 
plain the  emanation  of  the  pleroma.  This,  then,  is  the  way  in 
which  is  the  outer  darkness,  which  is  also  the  dragon.' 

"When  the  saviour  had  spoken  these  things,  Mary  answered 


*In  mediasval  Hell-representations,  which  rarely  are  lacking  in  coarse  humor, 
the  souls  are  thrown  with  pitchforks  into  the  open  jaws  of  the  dragon.  The  coarse- 
ness of  the  description  of  Hell  in  the  /'isiis  Sophia  is  apparently  serious. 


188 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


and  said  unto  the  saviour :    'Master,  are  the  torments  of  this  dra- 
gon terrible  beyond  the  punishment  of  all  the  judgments?' 

"The  saviour  answered  and  said  unto  Mary  :  'Not  only  are 
they  more  painful  than  all  the  chastisements  of  the  judgments,  but 
every  soul  that  shall  be  carried  into  that  region  shall  be  imprisoned 
in  relentless  ice,*  in  the  hail  and  scorching  fire  which  are  therein. 
And  in  the  dissolution  of  the  world,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  ascension 
of  the  pleroma,  these  souls  shall  perish  in  the  relentless  ice  and 
scorching  fire,  and  shall  be  non-existent  for  the  eternity.' 

"Mary  answered  and 
F.-,sct  said:  'Woe  for  the  souls 

of  sinners!  Now,  there- 
fore, O  Master,  whether 
is  the  fire  in  the  world  of 
human  kind  or  the  fire 
in  Amenti  the  fiercer?' 
"The  saviour  an- 
swered and  said  unto 
Mary:  'Amen,  I  say 
unto  thee,  the  fire  in 
Amenti  scorcheth  far 
more  than  the  fire  among 
men,  nine  times  more. 
"  'And  the  fire  which 
is  in  the  punishments  of 
the  great  chaos  is  nine 
times  fiercer  than  the  fire 
in  Amenti. 

"  'And  the  fire  which 
is   in   the    judgments  of 
the  rulers  who  are  in  the  way  of  the  midst,  is  nine  times  fiercer 
than  the  fire  of  the  punishments  which  are  in  the  great  chaos. 

"'And  the  fire  which  is  in  the  dragon  of  outer  darkness,  and 
all  the  torments  which  it  containeth,  are  fiercer  far  than  the  fire 


Weighing  the  Evil  and  the  Good  of  the  Soul. 

Reminding  one  of  similar  notions  prevalent  in 
ancient  Egypt  (About  1150.  From  the  cathedral 
in  Autun,  France  ) 


*An  anticipation  of  Dante's  ice  hell. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY. 


189 


which  is  in  the  chastisements  and  judgments  of  the  rulers  who  arc 
in  the  way  of  the  midst, — this  fire  is  fiercer  than  they  seventy 
times.' 

"And  when  the  saviour  had  said  this  unto  Mary,  she  smote 
her  breast,  she  cried  out  ah)ud,  with  tears,  and  all  the  disciples 
v»^ith  her,  saying  :  '  Woe  for  the  sinners,  for  their  torments  are  ex- 
ceedingly great.'" 


The  Doom  OF  THE  Damned.     (After  Luca  Signorelli.) 

The  Gnostic  Christian  view  of  Doomsday  and  Hell 
embodies  many  ancient  traditions  of  Egyptian,  Indian, 
and  Persian  mj-thology  and  foreshadows  at  the  same  time 
the  later  Roman  Catholic  view  as  represented  in  medi- 
aeval art,  finding  its  poetical  consummation  in  Dante's 
Divina  Coinedia. 

Satan  was  regarded  by  the  early  Christians  as  the 


190 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


The  Trinity  Ideal  of  Medi.eval  Christianity.     (Old  German.) 
Representing  God  as  Emperor,  Christ  as  King,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the 
principle  of  light,  of  order  and  good  government.     (Reproduced  from  Muther.) 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY.  191 

Prince  of  this  World,  and  this  belief  douiiiiatcd  in  the 
Church  as  k)ng'  as  pagan  authorities  remained  in  power. 
As  soon  as  tliey  were  rephiced  l)y  Christian  rulers,  and 
when  Christianity  became  established  as  the  state  reli- 
gion of  the  Roman  Empire,  Satan  was  gradually  de- 
throned and  God  reinstated  in  the  government  of  the 
world . 

The  empire  of  the  Csesars  broke  to  pieces  under 
the  repeated  assaults  of  Vandals,  Huns,  and  Goths,  but 
Charlemagne  founded  a  new  empire  on  its  ruins,  which, 
being  based  upon  the  rising  power  of  the  Teutonic  tribes, 
the  Franconians  and  the  Germans,  was  called  the  "  Holy 
Roman  Empire  of  German  nationality,"  lasting  about  a 
thousand  years,  from  800  until  1806.  This  period  (by 
Stahl  actually  regarded  as  the  realisation  of  the  millen- 
nium of  Revelation)  is  the  age  in  which  Christianity  was 
officially  recognised  and  the  attempt  was  made  to  apply 
its  ethics  by  all  means  to  the  private  and  public  affairs 
of  the  people.  It  is  natural  that  the  Trinity  was  now 
conceived  after  the  pattern  of  the  Imperial  government 
of  the  age ;  God  was  represented  as  the  emperor,  Christ 
as  the  king,  vicegerent  and  heir,  while  the  Holy  Ghost 
hovered  above  them  as  the  spirit  of  order  and  authority. 

The  most  essential  and  at  any  rate  practically  most 
important  dogma  of  the  early  Christian  Church,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  imminent  approach  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
faded  away  when  the  Church  rose  to  power,  but  it  re- 
appeared from  time  to  time,  sometimes  not  unlike  an 
acute  attack  of  a  frightful  alienation  of  men's  minds  ren- 
dering them  forgetful  of  the  duties  of  the  living  present 
for  the  sake  of  trying  to  escape  the  imaginary  evils  of  the 


192  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

doom  to  come.  The  scenes  of  the  last  judgment,  how- 
ever, have  always  remained  a  favorite  subject  of  Chris- 
tian artists  and  poets,  the  keynote  of  which  vibrates 
through  the  old  Church  hymn  : 

"Dies  irae,  dies  ilia, 
Solvet  saeclum  in  favila, 
Teste  David  cum  Sibylla." 


THE  IDEA  OF  SALVATION  IN  GREECE 
AND  ITALY. 


dXAii  pvaai  T)ixa'i   'ittu  rov  wovrjpov- 

Matt.  vi.  14. 

THE  first  century  of  our  era  is  a  time  in  which  the 
fear  of  evil  leads  to  the  organisation  of  religious  in- 
stitutions having  in  view  the  atonement  of  sin  and  the 
redemption  of  the  soul  from  the  terrors  of  hell.  The 
ideas  evil,  sin,  hell,  salvation,  and  immortal  life  were 
familiar  to  the  Greek  mind  even  before  the  days  of  Plato, 
but  were  still  mixed  up  with  the  traditional  mythology. 
When  philosophers  began  to  wage  war  against  the  gross 
idolatry  of  Greek  polytheism,  a  fermentation  set  in  which 
prepared  the  Greek  nation  for  the  reception  of  Christian- 
ity. We  say  "prepared,"  but  we  might  just  as  well  sa^' 
that  it  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Christian  Church 
as  an  institution  to  deliver  mankind  from  evil.  The  fear 
of  punishment  in  the  life  to  come  led  in  the  days  of  sav- 
agery to  human  sacrifices  as  a  vicariov:s  atonement.  This 
barbarous  practice  was  abandoned  in  the  progress  of  civil- 
isation by  a  substitution  of  animal  victims.  But  the  idea 
lingered  in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  was  retained  in 


Hades, 
(Greatly  reduced  from  ^fon.  Inst.,  VIII.,  g.) 

Picture  of  a  vase  found  at  Altamura,  representing  a  period  in  which  the  fear 
of  Hell  had  become  greatly  subdued  and  the  belief  in  its  terrors  is  offset  by  the 
legend  of  a  return  from  the  realm  of  the  dead  and  the  conquest  of  death. 

[The  upper  center  shows  Pluto  and  Persephone,  the  rulers  of  the  Nether 
World,  in  their  palace,  the  former  with  scepter  and  Kantharos,  or  sacred  cup,  the 
latter  holding  the  cross-torch  and  a  dish  filled  with  fruits  and  flowers.  Kantharos 
means  both  scarabaeus-beelle,  the  Egyptian  symbol  of  immortality,  and  the  drink- 
ing vessel  used  in  the  mysteries  which  probably  derives  its  name  from  some  un- 
known connexion  with  the  scarabseus.  Underneath  we  see  Heracles  taming  the 
three-headed  Cerberus  in  the  moment  of  crossing  the  Acheron,  which  originates 
(see  Homer,  Odyssey,  X,  513)  in  the  conflux  of  Cocytos  and  Pyriphlegethon.  Her- 
mes points  out  the  road  leading  back  to  the  upper  world.  The  Danaides  with  the 
water  vessels  on  the  right  bear  their  punishment  with  placidity,  while  Sisyphos  on 
the  left  seems  to  be  more  severely  taxed.  Dire  Necessity  i^Xvaynjj)  holds  the  whip 
in  her  right  hand,  but  her  left  extends  to  the  sufferer  a  laurel  branch.  (The  branch 
is  missing  in  many  similar  pictures.  It  is  apparently  not  an  apple  branch,  which 
was  a  symbol  of  Nemesis,  as  some  archaeologists  suggest.) 

The  upper  scene  on  the  right  shows  Hippodameia  and  Pelops,  the  latter  in  a 
Phrygian  cap  conversing  with  Myrtilos,  who  promises  to  remove  a  nail  from  the 
wheel  of  Oinomaoss  chariot  in  the  race  for  Hippodameia,  his  future  bride,  a  trick 
by  which  he  remains  victorious.  Underneath  are  the  judges  of  the  dead,  Triptol- 
emos,  Aiaciis,  and  Rhadamanthys,  the  latter  in  the  attitude  of  pleading  a  case  with 
great  zeal. 

The  upper  scene  on  the  left  represents  Megara  and  her  sons,  the  Heraclides, 
innocent  victims  of  a  cruel  fate  in  life,  who  are  here  comforted.  Below  this  group 
we  see  Orpheus  with  lyre  in  hand,  approaching  the  palace  to  ask  Persephone  for 
a  release  of  Eurydice.  The  Erinyes,  or  avenging  demons  (called  IIoIN,-\I)  in  the 
picture  have  lost  their  terrible  appearance  and  let  the  singer  pass  by  unmolested.] 


GREECE  AND  ITALY 


195 


Christianity,  where,  however,  it  received  a  new  signifi- 
cance when  restated  under  the  influence  of  Paul's  mes- 
sage of  the  crucified,  and  therefore  glorified.  Saviour. 
Christ's  death  was  now  declared  to  be  a  sacrifice  that 
would  be  sufi&cient  for  all  the  ages  to  come.''' 

The  Greeks,  equally  with  other  nations,  feared  pun- 
ishment after  death  as  the  greatest  evil,  and  their  belief 
in  hell  can  be  traced  back  to  the  dawn  of  the  history  of 
Greece. 


Human  Sacrifices  at  the  Funeral  Pyre  of  Patroclus. 

Wall  picture  of  a  tomb  in  Vulci. 

(From  Michaelis,  Handbtich  dcr  h'unstgcschkhtc,  I.,  p.  235.) 

The  most  ancient  description  of  the  Greek  concep- 
tion of  the  land  of  the  dead,  which  is  found  in  Homer, 
resembles  the  Jewish  Sheol  in  so  far  as  Hades  is  the 
abode  of  the  shades  of  the  dead,  both  good  and  evil.  It 
is  a  gloomy  place ;  there  is  a  grove  of  willow  and  poplar 
trees,  and   a  large  lawn   covered   with   asphodels.     The 

*  The  Christian  Church  never  lost  sight  of  the  idea  that  a  human  sacrifice  is 
indispensable  for  the  expiation  of  sin,  the  atonement  being  procured  by  the  mystic 
effects  of  faith.  Hence  the  constant  reference  of  Christ's  death  on  the  cross  to 
both  Abraham's  offering  of  Isaac  and  the  miraculous  healing  power  of  the  brazen 
serpent  in  the  desert 


196 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Y  cTilltifirrtJehppUu  gjfftpm; 


Tfffiti ni rjfiiffi  rrufa'ni 

(IbrjibB  daJiii  (>jtT^iffiU>' 
fiju'i  iii\olmfrnnc(rlii66iTi 
ipiii  iV fflo^h limn-  ilirpg  lie 
fth'JlRh  manu  hia  fiij  piif;' 
Obrabn  pjfj  cdttti  fmi-  qin' 
C.liiiriiiiraifhi.|)  Holi'oTb'' 
uircTUMolflinnvhE  ti'imr 

crajag";  amoqie  patfrm 


fu  ouHiruenppuu  gjiftpnp 

iTBmoiuojVaur  be  fpprnft 

bPlihcraTe.pffpiHiitojjfi'ut 

Tarr  tifnjjcKTii  ruru  et  nl 

1  licit  fufpt  itb  "tt  (ffwjj  ilhiai 

fpuff';  ix  frrpEtibolibf  I  arrhR 

ffrpt6riifp"rrilTiiiit9(Ha(plo 

cnrrum  criirrniftiqirfun 

itbi'tidlis  fi5Hffl(iiii  affipet 

■i-i>i'aboloii)lt<libci-fln 


butpctulantuc  * 


'o;?  ^itamftiibSTBhuoepaOiqjpi 


Christ's  Death  on  the  Cross  and  Its  Prototypes. 
SiMa  Panpfrum^      (Woodcut  of  the  fifteenth  century.) 
The  immolation  of  Isaac  shows  Christ's  death  in   its  connexion  with  human 
sacrifice,  and   the   story  of   the  serpent  lifted  up  in  the  wilderness  exemplifies  the 
healing  power  of  faith. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


197 


shade  of  Achilles  declares  that  he  would  rather  be  upon 
earth  a  day  laborer  in  a  poor  man's  employ  than  ruler  in 


TUCHULCHA,  THE  DeMON  OF  INFER- 
NAL Tortures  According  to  the 
Belief  of  the  Etruscans. 

(Part  of  a  wall  picture  of  a  tomb  in 
Corneto) 


Charun,  the  Etruscan  Demon  of 
Death,  Waiting  for  a  Victim. 

(From  an  Etruscan  vase,   Hellenised 
style.) 


the  land  of  the  dead.  While  the  oldest  reports  do  not 
as  yet  contain  any  reference  to  a  reward  of  the  good  (for 
even  Achilles  shares  the  sad  fate  of  all  mortals) ,  we  learn 


Oknos  and  the  Daughters  of  Danaos  in  Hades 
Oknos  (i.  e.,  the  Tardy  or  Inattentive  One)  weaving  a  rope  of  hay  which  is  de- 
voured by  the  donkey,  and  the  daughters  of  Danaos  endeavoring  to  fill   the  urn 
without  a  bottom. 

(Frieze  of  a  Roman  well  decoration.     Vatican.) 

of  the  tortures  to  which  the  wicked  are  subjected, — Tan- 
talus, the  Danaides,  Sisyphos,  Ixion,  Oknos. 


19S 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Homer  represents  the  dead  as  unsubstantial  forms, 
like  dream  images.  However,  an  exception  is  made  in 
the  case  of  Hercules,  whose  shadow  is  in  Hades,  while 
Hercules  himself,  who  is  an  Immortal,  lives  among  the 
gods  in  Olympus  {Odyssey,  XL,  601-626) .  Another  hero 
whose  fate  after  death  is  more  cheerful  than  that  of  com- 
mon people  is  Menelaog.      Being  a  son-in-law  of  Zeus, 


IxiON  ON  THE  Fiery  Wheel. 

Underneath  an  avenging  Erinys.  Hephaestos,  the  smith  of  the  gods,  looks  at 
the  wheel,  his  handiwork,  with  apparent  satisfaction.  Hermes  is  ready  to  return 
to  the  Upper  World.  Archaeologists  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  interpreting  the 
significance  of  the  angel-like  figures  on  both  sides  of  Ixion. 

Ixion,  a  Thessalian  king,  committed  a  murder,  but  was  lustrated  by  Zeus  him- 
self who  admitted  him  as  a  guest  to  his  own  table.  But  the  criminal  lusted  after 
Hera,  the  queen  of  the  gods.  In  her  place  he  embraced  a  cloud  which  bore  to  him 
the  unruly  race  of  Centaurs.  Thereupon  Ztnis  had  Ixion  fastened  to  a  fiery  wheel 
in  Hades. 

The  suffering  Ixion  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  mythological  precipitate  of  a 
former  god  of  the  sky,  a  rival  of  Zeus  ;  but  the  features  of  his  divinity  have  paled 
in  the  human  conception  of  a  later  age  which  was  no  longer  conscious  of  the  myth- 
ological significance  of  his  deeds. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


199 


the  husband  of  Helen,  who  is  apparently  conceived  as  the 
goddess  of  the  moon,  he  lives  in  Elysion  where  Rhada- 
nianth3's  rules.   There  the  people  live  in  ease.     There  is 


GiGANTOMACHV  ;   The  Giants  Sturming  Heaven 
Bas  relief  of  an  ancient  sarcophagus.     Now  in  the  Museum  of  the  Vatican. 

no  snow,  no  winter,  no  storm,  but  only  gentle  and  re- 
freshing zephyrs  blow  from  the  ocean. 

The   Egyptian    origin    of    the  belief    in    Elysion    is 


Zeus  Conquering  Typhoeus. 
Picture  on  an  antique  water  pitcher.     (Baumeister,  hcnkm.  d  class.  Alt.,  p.  2135.) 

guaranteed  by  the  name  Rhadamanthys  which  is  the  god 

Ra  Amenthes,  the  Lord  of  the  Hidden  World,  Amenti. 

When    the    spread   of    gnostic    views    prepared    the 

Greek  nation  for  Christianity,  the  ancient  pagan  myths 


200 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


were  not  abandoned  but  transformed.  Hesiod  tells  us  in 
the  Tlieogony  of  the  terrible  struggle  between  Zeus  and 
the  Titans  ;  and  St.  Peter,*  when  speaking  in  his  second 
letter  of  the  revolution  of  the  angels  that  sinned,  says 
that  "  God  hurled  them  down  to  Tartarus."  The  ex- 
pression, however,  is  obliterated  in  the  version  of  King 
James,  for  the  word  rafiayrapaaz  (having  hurled  them  to 
Tartarus)  is  translated  "sent  them  down  to  hell." 


GiGANTOMACHY  ;  The  Giants  Storming  Heaven.      An  ancient  Greek  frieze. 

We  read  in  the  Theogony  of  the  battle  between  Zeus 
and  the  monster  Typhon  (also  called  Typhoeus)  : 

"When  Zeus  had  driven   the  Titans  out  from   heaven,  huge 
Earth  bare  her  youngest  born  son,  Typhoeus,  ....  whose  liands, 

indeed,  are  fit  for  deeds  on  account  of  tlieir  strength On  his 

shoulders  there  were  one  hundred  heads  of  a  serpent,  of  a  fierce 
dragon,  playing  with  dusky  tongues.  From  the  eyes  in  his  won- 
drous heads  fire  struggled  beneath  the  brows.  From  his  terrible 
mouths  voices  were  sending  forth  every  kind  of  sound  ineffable, — 
the  bellowing  of  a  bull,  the  roar  of  a  lion,  the  barking  of  whelps, 
and  the  hiss  of  a  serpent.  The  huge  monster  would  have  reigned 
over  mortals  unless  the  sire  of  gods  and  men  quickly  observed  him. 

*Or  rather  the  author  of  the  second  epistle  of  St.  Peter,  so  called. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


201 


War  in  Heaven. 
After  the  Revelation  of  St.  Jofin.     (By  Albrecht  Diirer.; 


202 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Harshly  he  thundered,  and  heavily  and  terribly  the  earth  re-echoed 
around.  Beneath  Jove's  immortal  feet  vast  Olympus  trembled, 
and  the  earth  groaned.  Heaven  and  sea  were  boiling.  Pluto  trem- 
bled, monarch  of  the  dead.  The  Titans  in  Tartarus  trembled  also, 
but  Jove  smote  T^phoeus  and  scorched  all  the  wondrous  heads  of 
the  terrible  monster.  When  at  last  the  monster  was  quelled,  smit- 
ten with  blows,  it  fell  down  lame,  and  Zeus  hurled  him  into  wide 
Tartarus." 


CHiM.tRA  OF  Akezzo.     The  monster  slain  by  Bellerophon.     (Now  at  Florence.) 

This  description  reminds  us  not  onU'  of  the  Second 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  but  also  of  Revelation,  xii.  7-9: 

"And  there  was  war  in  heaven.  Michael  and  his  angels  fought 
against  the  dragon  ;  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his  angels  ;  and 
prevailed  not ;  neither  was  their  place  found  any  more  in  heaven. 
And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out,  that  old  serpent  called  the 
Devil  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world  ;  he  was  cast 
out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him." 


GREECE  AND  ITALY, 


203 


Thus  the  old  Greek  demons  merely  changed  names 
and  reappeared  in  new  personalities.  In  this  shape  they 
were  embodied  into  the  canonical  books  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament and  became  the  integral  part  of  tlie  new  religion, 
which  at  that  time  began  to  conquer  the  world. 


Theseus  and  Pirithous. 

Venturing  down  to  Hades  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  up  Persephone,  the 
daughter  of  Ceres,  they  are  made  prisoners  and  bound  by  an  Erinys.  Theseus  is 
at  last  rescued  by  Hercules.  Pluto  holds  in  his  hand  a  scepter  on  the  top  of  which 
sits  the  dismal  owl  as  an  avisfunebris.     Persephone  carries  two  cross-torches. 

(From  an  Etruscan  Vase.     Baumeister,  Dcnkmiilcr  dcs  class.  Allcriums.) 

The  Greek  idea  of  salvation  is  mirrored  in  the  le- 
gends of  Hercules,  Bellerophon,  Theseus,  Dionysus,  and 
other  myths,  which  had  become  dear  to  the  Greek  mind 
through  the  tales  of  poets  and  the  works  of  artists. 

The  powers  of  evil  which  Hercules  overcomes  are 
represented  as  a  lion,  a  dragon,  a  wild  boar,  harpy-like 


204 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


birds,  and  a  bull.  In  addition  be  captures  the  swift  bind 
of  Arcadia,  be  cleanses  tbe  stables  of  Augeas,  tames  tbe 
man-eating  mares  of  Diomedes,  conquers  H3^polyte,  tbe 
queen  of  tbe  Amazons,  brings  tbe  oxen  of  Geryon  from 
tbe  far  West,  and  carries  Cerberus  to  tbe  upper  world. 


Perseus  With  the  Head  of  the  Decapitated  Medusa. 

The  soul   of  the  latter  is  represented  as  a  small  figure  leaving  the  body  and  still 

trying  to  retain  the  head. 

(Terra  cotta  from  Melos.     Baumeister,  Dcnkmalcr  dcs  class.  AlUrtums.) 

Tbe  poet  Peisander  (wlio  lived  about  650  B.  C.) 
wrote  an  apotbeosis  of  Hercules,  called  the  Hciachy^ 
which    contributed    much    toward     idealising    the    hero. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY 


205 


Later  Greek  philosophers,  such  men  as  Xenophon  and 
the  sophist  Prodicus/''  regarded  him  as  the  realisation  of 
divine  perfection,  and  now  it  became  customary  to  look 


Perseus  and  Andromeda. f 
Picture  of  an  ancient  Amphora  in  Naples.   (From  Baumeister,  D.  d.  cl.  A.,  p.  1291.) 


*Xen.,  Mem.,  ii.  i.      Plato,  Symp.,  177  B. 

f  Trendelenburg  has  discovared  a  passage  commenting  on  this  or  a  similar  pic- 
ture in  Achilles  Tatius,  and  explains  it  as  follows  :  Andromeda,  adorned  as  the 
bride  of  death  with  girdle,  crown,  and  veil,  is  tied  to  two  poles.  Above  her  Cupid 
stands  engaged  with  women  in  the  preparation  of  a  wedding.  Andromeda's  old 
nurse  hands  her  a  twig.  Behind  and  above  the  nurse  are  guards  with  Phrygian 
caps  and  arms.  On  the  left,  Cassiopeia,  Andromeda's  mother,  who  exhibits  the 
vanity  of  which  the  legend  accuses  her,  is  seated  in  conversation  with  her  serv- 
ants. Underneath  Perseus  fights  the  monster,  which  scene  is  witnessed  by  three 
Nereids,  one  riding  on  a  sea-horse,  one  on  a  dolphin,  and  the  third  resembling  the 
typical  figure  of  Scylla.     The  monster  differs  here  from  the  typical  Medusa  figure. 


206 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


upon  the  old  legends  as  perversions  of  a  deeper  religious 
truth.    Epictetus,  who  speaks  of  Hercules  as  the  saviour, 


Sicilian  Coin  with  Medusa-Head. 
The  use  of  the  Triguetra  (three  legs)  is  frequent  in  the  three-cornered  island. 
The  ears  of  wheat  indicate  the  proverbial  fertility  of  Sicily,  the  granary  of  Rome. 


The  Gorgoneion  on  the  Shield  of  Phidias's  Athene. 
The  head  of  the  Medusa  is  surrounded  by  scenes  of  a  battle  with  Amazons. 
One  of  the  fighters  (the  man  with  the  bald  head)  is  supposed  to  be  a  portrait  of  the 
artist  Phidias. 

and  as  the  son  of  Zeus,  says  (iii.  24)  :    "Do  you  believe 
all  the  fables  of  Homer?  " 

Hercules  is  called  repeller  of  e\il  {uXeSixaHos) ,  leader 


GoRGONEioN,  Ancient  Face  oh  the  Gorgon  Medusa. 


Medusa  Rondanini. 
Beautiful  yet  ghastly.      (Glyptothek,  Munich.) 


208 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


in  the  fray  (7rpo/<ajos) ,  the  brightlj^  victorious  {uaXXivt- 
Ho=)  ,'='  the  celestial  {o\vi.inio?) ,  destroyer  of  flies,  vermin, 
and  grasshoppers  {/.iviapyos,  Ittohtovo;,  Hopvonioav) .  He, 
the  solar  hero,  is  identified  with  Apollo,  the  sun-god,  in 
the  names  prophet  {navTis) ,  and  leader  of  the  Muses 
{^/uovffayeTij;)  . 


;  .  ''n^ 


Bellerophon  Slaying  the  Chimera. 
(A  terra  cotta  statue  of  Melos,  now  at  the  British  Museum  ) 

The  legends  of  Perseus  are  in  many  respects  simi- 
lar to  the  tales  of  Hercules.  Perseus,  too,  the  Greek 
prototj'pe  of  the  Christian  St.  George,  is  a  divine  saviour. 
Assisted  b}^  Athene,  he  liberates  Andromeda,  the  bride  of 
Death,  held  captive  by  the  horrible  Medusa,  a  symbol  of 
deadly  fright. t 

*  The  Greek  Aa/df  is  not  limited  to  the  definition  of  beautiful  as  we  use  the  word. 

f  The  Medusa  is  mentioned  by  Homer,  >  634,  as  a  terrible  monster  of  the  Nether 

World  ;  it  was  used  as  an  amulet  to  avert  evil,  and  became  therefore  a  favorite  de- 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


209 


As  a  symbol  which  destroys  evil  iniluences,  the 
Aledusa-head  frequently  appears  on  shields  and  coins. 

Bellerophon  is  another  solar  hero.  He  rides  on 
Pegasus,  a  mj^thological  representation  of  the  thunder- 
cloud,* and  slays  the  Chimasra,  a  monster  half  lion,  half 
goat,  representing  barbarism  and  savagery,  or  some  sim- 
ilar evils. 

Some  of  the  tales  of  divine  saviours  may  be  ulti- 
mately founded  upon  local  Greek  traditions,  but  many 
features  of  these  religious 
myths  indicate  that  they 
were  introduced  early 
from  the  Orient  whose 
religions  began  to  influ- 
ence the  occidental  na- 
tions at  the  very  dawn  of 
their  civilisation.  Thus 
Hercules  is  the  Tyrian 
Baal  Melkarth,  probably 
identical  with  the  Baby- 
lonian Bel, —  the  con- 
queror of  Tiamat ;  and 
his  twelve  labors  are  the  deeds  of  the  sun-god  in  the 
twelve   months   of   the  year.     Phoenix-like,   lie   dies  by 


The  Lion-Killing  Hero  of  KHORSABAD.f 


vice  on  shields.    The  original  of  the  upper  illustration  on  p.  207  is  colored, — which 
adds  to  the  frightful  appearance  of  this  picture  found  on  the  Acropolis  at  Athens, 

*The  statue  reproduced  on  p.  208  belongs  to  an  older  period  of  Greek  art.  and 
the  horse  Pegasus  is  not  as  yet  endowed  with  wings,  which  became  very  soon  its 
never-missing  attributes.  The  modern  notion  that  Pegasus  is  the  symbol  of  poet- 
ical enthusiasm  only  dates  back  to  the  fifteenth  century  of  our  era,  and  was  foreign 
to  the  Greek 

f  Figures  of  the  lion-killing  saviour  are  also  found  on  Asiatic  coins  and  on  As- 
syrian cylinders. 


210 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


self-combustion  and  rises  in  a  transfigured  shape  from 
the  flames  of  the  pyre.  The  Jews  also  appropriated  the 
figure  of  this  solar  hero  in  the  shape  of  Sampson  whose 
strength  is  conditioned  by  his  hair,  as  the  power  of  the 
sun  lies  in  his  rays. 

In  spite  of  the  strong  admixture  of  foreign  m3'th- 
ology,  Hercules  has  become  the  national  hero  of  Greece, 
and  the  Greek  idea  of  salvation  has  found  in  him  the 
most  t3'pical  expression,  which  has  been  most  beautifully 
worked  out  by  ^schylus  in  a  grand  tragedy  which  rep- 


Prometheus  Tied  by  Zeus  to  the  Stake  (or  Cross)  and  Exposed  to  the  Eagle; 

Rescued  by  Hercules. 

(A  vase  found  at  Chiusi,  now  in  Berlin.     Baumeister,  D.  d.  cl.  .4  ,  p.  1410.) 

resents  Prometheus  (the  fore-thinker)  as  struggling  and 
suffering  mankind,  tied  to  the  pole  of  misery  by  Zeus  as 
a  punishment  for  the  sin  of  having  brought  the  bliss  of 
light  and  fire  down  to  the  earth.  But  at  last  the  divine 
saviour,  Hercules,  arrives,  and,  killing  the  eagle  that 
lacerates  the  liver  of  the  bold  hero,  sets  him  free. 

Prometheus  and  Hercules  are  combined  into  one 
person  in  the  Christian  Saviour,  Jesus  Chri.st.  The  sim- 
ilarity of  the  story  of  Golgotha  with  the  mytli  of  Pro- 
metheus is  not  purely  accidental.  For  observe  that  in 
some  of  the  older  pictures,  as  for  instance  in  the  vase  of 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  211 

Chiusi    (see  illustration  on  p.   210) ,   Prometheus  is  not 
chained  to  a  rock  but  tied  to  a  pole,  i.  e.,  to  a  aravpoz  or 
cross,  and  Greek  authors  frequently  use  expressions  such 
as  the  verb  avaaHokoniB.Ba'iiai   (uS^scliylus)    and  avaaxav 
povaBai  (Lucian)  which  mean  "to  be  crucified."* 

Seneca  speaks  of  Hercules  as  the  ideal  of  the  good 
man  who  lives  exclusively  for  the  welfare  of  mankind. 
Contrasting  him  to  Alexander  the  Great,  the  conqueror 
of  Asia,  he  says  {De  Bene/.,  I.,  14)  : 

"Hercules  never  gained  victories  tor  himself.  He  wandered 
through  the  circle  of  the  earth,  not  as  a  conqueror,  but  as  a  protec- 
tor. What,  indeed,  should  the  enemy  of  the  wicked,  the  defensor 
of  the  good,  the  peace-bringer,  conquer  for  himself  either  on  land 
or  sea! " 

Epictetus  praises  Hercules  frequently  and  declai^es 
that  the  evils  which  he  combated  served  to  elicit  his  vir- 
tues, and  were  intended  to  try  him  (I.,  6).  Zeus,  who 
is  identified  with  God,  is  called  his  father  and  Hercules 
is  said  to  be  his  son  (III.,  26) .  Hercules,  when  obliged 
to  leave  his  children,  knew  them  to  be  in  the  care  of 
God.     Epictetus  says  (HI.,  24)  : 

"He  knew  that  no  man  is  an  orphan,  but  that  there  is  a  father 
always  and  constantly  for  all  of  them.  He  had  not  only  heard  the 
words  that  Zeus  was  the  father  of  men,  for  he  regarded  him  as  his 
father  and  called  him  such  ;  and  looking  up  to  him  he  did  what 
Zeus  did.      Therefore  he  could  live  happily  everywhere." 

In  Christianity  the  struggles  of  the  saviour  receive 
a  dualistic  interpretation  and  are  spiritualised  into  a  vic- 

*  In  the  beautiful  sarcophagus  (see  illustration  on  p.  212)  which  represents  the 
Prometheus  myth,  the  first  design  is  apparently  incomplete ;  for  we  should  expect 
to  see  Prometheus  represented  as  stealing  the  fire  and  offering  it  to  Deukalion. 


212 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY, 


213 


tory  over  the  temptations  of  the  flesh  and  other  world!}- 

passions. 

* 

The  conception  of  evil  as  hell  received  a  philosophi- 
cal foundation  in  the  dualism  of  Plato  who  did  not  shrink 
from  depicting  its  minutest  details  ;  and  his  views  of  the 
future  state  of  the  soul,  its  rewards  in  heaven  and  hell, 
are  in  close  agreement  with  Christian  doctrines,  even  in 


^'3^'L^^'^yLj':. 


3iC:QOQiOO]^jj!aeOH^;C>i{5 


The  Temptations  op  Christ. 
(Seventh  century.     Mosaic  in  the  cathedral  of  Monreale,  Sicily  ) 

most  of  their  details,  with  the  exception  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  transmigration  of  the  soul. 

Plato  concludes  his  book  on  the  Republic  (X.,  614- 
621)  with  the  tale  of  Er,  the  son  of  Armenius,  a  man 
who  had  died  and  come  back  to  life  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  information  to  mankind  concerning  the  other 
world  which  might  serve  to  warn  people  as  to  what  they 
had  to  expect  in  the  life  to  come.  Plato  says  that  this 
Er,  a  Pamphylian  bj^  birth,  was  slain  in  battle,  but  when 
the  dead  were  taken  up  his  body  was  found  unaffected  by 
decay,  and,  on  the  twelfth  day,  as  he  was  Ij'ing  on  the 
funeral  pile,  he  returned  to  life.     Plato  continues : 


214  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"  He  [Er,  the  son  of  Armenius]  said  that  when  his  soul  left 
the  body  he  went  on  a  journey  with  a  great  company,  and  that  they 
came  to  a  mysterious  place  at  which  there  were  two  openings  in 
the  earth  ;  they  were  near  together,  and  over  against  them  were 
two  other  openings  in  the  heaven  above.  In  the  intermediate  space 
there  were  judges  seated,  who  commanded  the  just,  after  they  had 
given  judgment  on  them  and  had  bound  their  sentences  in  front  of 
them,  to  ascend  by  the  heavenly  way  on  the  right  hand ;  and  in 
like  manner  the  unjust  were  bidden  by  them  to  descend  by  the 
lower  way  on  the  left  hand  ;  these  also  bore  the  symbols  of  their 
deeds,  but  fastened  on  their  backs. 

"  Er  said  that  for  every  wrong  which  they  had  done  to  any 
one  they  suffered  tenfold." 

Hell  is  described  as  follows : 

"  'And  this,'  said  Er,  'was  one  of  the  dreadful  sights  which  we 
ourselves  witnessed.  We  were  at  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  and, 
having  completed  all  our  experiences,  were  about  to  reascend, 
when  of  a  sudden  Ardiaeus  [the  tyrant]  appeared  and  several  oth- 
ers, most  of  whom  were  tyrants  ;  and  there  were  also,  besides  the 
tyrants,  private  individuals  who  had  been  great  criminals  :  they 
were,  as  they  fancied,  about  to  return  into  the  upper  world,  but  the 
mouth,  instead  of  admitting  them,  gave  a  roar,  whenever  any  of 
these  incurable  sinners  or  some  one  who  had  not  been  sufficiently 
punished,  tried  to  ascend  ;  and  then  wild  men  of  fiery  aspect,  who 
were  standing  by  and  heard  the  sound,  seized  and  carried  them  off ; 
and  Ardiaeus  and  others  they  bound  head  and  foot  and  hand,  and 
threw  them  down  and  flayed  them  witli  scourges,  and  dragged 
them  along  the  road  at  the  side,  carding  them  on  thorns  Hke  wool, 
and  declaring  to  passers-by  what  were  their  crimes,  and  that  they 
were  being  taken  away  to  be  cast  into  hell.'  And  of  all  the  many 
terrors  which  they  had  endured,  he  said  that  there  was  none  like 
the  terror  which  each  of  them  felt  at  that  moment,  lest  they  should 
hear  the  voice ;  and  when  there  was  silence,  one  by  one  they  as- 
cended with  exceeding  joy.  These,  said  Er,  were  the  penalties 
and  retributions,  yet  there  were  blessings  as  great." 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  215 

The  idea  of  the  rising  and  sinking  of  the  wicked  in 
hell  is  similar  to  the  Buddhist  view  of  Buddhagosha  who 
in  his  parables  (translated  by  Capt.  T.  Rogers,  R.  E., 
pp.  128-129)  tells  us  how  the  condemned  go  up  and  down 
like  grains  of  rice  in  a  boiling  cauldron.  The  concep- 
tions of  the  mouth  of  hell,  of  the  fierce  tormentors  and 
the  various  punishments  are  probably  older  than  Plato ; 
they  reappear  in  the  gnostic  doctrines  and  were  retained 
by  Christianity  down  to  the  age  of  the  Reformation. 

The  belief  in  hell  and  the  anxiety  to  escape  its  ter- 
rors produced  conditions  which  are  drastically  described 
by  Plato,  who  says,  speaking  of  the  desii'e  of  the  wicked 
to  ransom  their  souls  from  a  deserved  punishment : 

"Mendicant  prophets  go  to  rich  men's  doors  and  persuade 
them  that  they  have  a  power  committed  to  them  by  the  gods  of 
making  an  atonement  for  a  man's  own  or  his  ancestor's  sins  by  sac- 
rifices or  charms,  with  rejoicings  and  feasts.  .  .  .  And  they  produce 
a  host  of  books  written  by  Musaeus  and  Orpheus,  who  were  chil- 
dren of  the  Moon  and  the  Muses — that  is  what  they  say — accord- 
ing to  which  they  perform  their  ritual,  and  jjersuade  not  only  indi- 
viduals, but  whole  cities,  that  expiations  and  atonements  for  sin 
may  be  made  by  sacrifices  and  amusements  which  fill  a  vacant 
hour,  and  are  equally  at  the  service  of  the  living  and  the  dead  ;  the 
latter  sort  they  call  mj'steries,  and  they  redeem  us  from  the  pain  of 
hell,  but  if  we  neglect  them  no  one  knows  what  awaits  us." 

The  dualism  that  underlies  Plato's  views  began  to  be 
taken  more  seriously  by  his  disciples,  the  Neo-Plato- 
nists,  and  reached  an  extraordinary  intensity  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era.  The  philosopher  longed 
for  death,  and  the  common  people  feared  the  terrors  of 
the  next  life. 


216  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

The  philosophical  longing  for  death  is  satirically'  de- 
scribed in  one  of  the  epigrams  of  Callimachus,  who  says 
(No.  XXIV)  : 

"Cleombrot,*  he  of  Ambracia,  took  leave  of  the  sun  m  the  heavens: 
Leapt  from  a  wall  in  the  hope     Sooner  to  reach  the  Beyond; 

Not  that  he  e'er  had  encountered  an  ill  that  made  life  to  him  hateful ; 
Merely  because  he  had  read     Plato's  grand  book  on  the  soul." 

The  idea  of  immortality  became  more  and  more  ac- 
cepted by  the  masses  of  the  people ;  but  there  were  many 
to  whom  it  was  no  welcome  news,  for  it  served  only  to 
enhance  the  fears  of  man's  fate  after  death.     Acquaint- 

* 

ance  with  other  religions  revealed  new  terrors  ever}-- 
where.  The  Egyptians'  dread  of  judgment  in  the  nether 
world,  the  Jews'  horror  of  Gehenna,  the  Hindus'  longing 
for  an  escape  from  future  sufferings,  were  now  added  to 
the  Greek  notions  of  Hades,  and  rendered  them  more 
terrible  than  before.  The  Christian  conception  of  hell 
is  more  fearful  and  at  the  same  time  drastic  than  any  one 
of  the  older  beliefs  jn  future  punishment. 

Lucian  tells  the  story  of  Peregrinus,  surnamed  Pro- 
teus, who  after  various  adventures  became  a  convert  to 
Christianity.  He  would  have  been  forgotten  and  his 
name  would  never  have  been  mentioned  in  history  but 
for  the  fact  that  in  the  presence  of  a  great  crowd  at  the 
Olympian  festivals  he  burned  himself  to  death  on  a  big 
pile   of   wood. 

All  these  strange  facts  were  symptoms  which  illus- 
trated the  religious  zeal  of  the  people  and  characterised 

*Cleombrotus  may  have  been  the  same  disciple  of  Socrates  who  is  mentioned 
in  Phaedo  II  ,  p.  59,  c.  This  strange  case  of  suicide  is  alluded  to  by  St.  Augustine 
in  de  Civ.  Dei,  I  ,  22. — The  verses  are  translated  in  the  original  metre. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  217 

the  unrest  of  the  times.  Further,  Plutarch  tells  us  in  his 
Morals  that  the  superstitious  are  chastised  by  "their 
own  imagination  of  an  anguish  that  will  never  cease." 
He  says : 

"  Wide  open  stand  the  deep  gates  of  the  Hades  that  they  fable, 
and  there  stretches  a  vista  of  rivers  of  fire  and  Stygian  cliffs  ;  and 
all  is  canopied  with  a  darkness  full  of  fantasms,  of  spectres  threat- 
ening us  with  terrible  faces  and  uttering  pitiful  cries." 

Mr.  F.  C.  Conybeare,  in  his  Monuvients  of  Ea^-ly 
Christiatiity^  says,  concerning  the  belief  in  hell : 

"We  make  a  mistake  if  we  think  that  this  awful  shadow  was 
not  cast  across  the  human  mind  long  before  the  birth  of  Christian- 
ity. On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  survival  from  the  most  primitive  stage 
of  our  intellectual  and  moral  development.  The  mysteries  of  the 
old  Greek  and  Roman  worlds  were  intended  as  modes  of  propitia- 
tion and  atonement,  by  which  to  escape  from  these  all-besetting 
terrors,  and  Jesus  the  Messiah,  was  the  last  and  best  of  the 
XvT-qpioi  6toi,  of  the  redeeming  gods.  In  the  dread  of  death  and  in 
the  belief  in  the  eternal  fire  of  hell,  which  pervaded  men's  minds, 
a  few  philosophers  excepted,  Christianity  had  a.  point  d'appui,  with- 
out availing  itself  of  which  it  would  not  have  made  a  single  step 
towards  the  conquest  of  men's  minds." 

And  why  was  Christ  a  better  Saviour  than  the  gods 
and  heroes  of  Greece?  Simply  because  he  was  human 
and  realistic,  not  mythological  and  symbolical;  he  was  a 
sufferer  and  a  man, — the  son  of  man,  and  not  a  slayer, 
not  a  conqueror,  not  a  hero  of  the  ferocious  type,  ruthless 
and  bloodstained ;  he  fulfilled  the  moral  ideal  which  had 
been  set  up  by  Plato,  who,  perhaps  under  the  impres- 
sion of  -^schylus's  conception  of  the  tragic  fate  of  Pro- 


218  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

metheus,*  saj-s  of  the  perfect  man  who  would  rather  be 
than  appear  just : 

"They  will  tell  you  that  the  just  man  who  is  thought  unjust 
will  be  scourged,  racked,  bound ;  will  have  his  eyes  burnt  out ; 
and,  at  last,  after  suffering  every  kind  of  evil,  he  will  be  hung  up 
at  the  pale." 

The  strang-e.st  thing  about  this  passage  is  that  the 
word  ai'ao-jz»'tfi;A£t»S7;afra'z,  which  means  "he  will  be  hung 
up  at  the  stake,"  or  "fixed  on  a  pale,"  is  an  older  syno- 
nym of  the  New  Testament  term  Gravpotiv,  commonly 
translated  "to  crucify." 

Alluding  to  Plato,  Apollonius,  a  Christian  martyr, 
declares : 

"  One  of  the  Greek  Philosophers  said  :  The  just 
man  shall  be  tortured,  he  shall  be  spat  upon,  and 
last  of  all  he  shall  be  crucified.  Just  as  the  Athe- 
nians passed  an  unjust  sentence  of  death,  and 
charged  him  falsely,  because  they  yielded  to  the 
mob,  so  also  our  Saviour  was  at  last  sentenced  to 
Christian  Gemj  death  by  the  lawless."  % 

In  the  days  of  Augustus  and  his  successors  the  peo- 
ple were  taught  to  expect  salvation,  the  dispensation  of 
justice,  protection,  peace,  and  prosperity  from  the  em- 
peror ;  and  just  as  we  have  to-day  monarchies  where  the 
king  regards  himself  as  the  Anointed  One  by  the  grace 
of  God  and  a  representative  of  God  on  earth,  so  the  Ro- 
man emperor  arrogated  to  himself  divine  honors,  and 
even  philosophers  such  as  Seneca  did  not  hesitate  to  ac- 

*See  above,  page  210, 

f  This  gem  (a  Christian  New  Year's  present)  represents  the  death  of  a  martyr. 
The  letters  AN  FT  mean  annum  ncn'itm/ilicim  tibi. 

X  The  Apology  and  Acts  of  Apollonius,  40-41.  Translated  by  F.  C.  Conybeare 
in  Monuments  0/  Early  Christianity,  p.  47. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  219 

knowledge  the  claim.  The  practical  significance  of  this 
view  is  that  the  government  should  be  regarded  with  re- 
ligious awe,  and  its  officers,  as  such,  are  divine.  The 
Christians  who  refused  to  worship  before  the  emperor's 
images  must  have  appeared  to  the  Romans  of  those  days 
as  anarchists  and  rebels.  But  when  Nero  committed 
matricide  and  other  most  outrageous  crimes,  the  belief 
in  the  emperor's  divinity  dwindled  away,  and  the  idea 
of  the  suffering  God,  the  man  who  died  on  the  cross  be- 
cause he  would  rather  be  than  appear  just,  gained  ground 

among  the  people. 

* 
*  * 

Christianity  was  not  the  only  religion  which  prom- 
ised deliverance  from  evil  through  the  saving  power  of 
blood  and  by  means  of  a  vicarious  atonement,  for  we 
know  of  the  immortality-promising  mysteries,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  cult  of  Mithras,  which  had  embodied  many 
ideas  and  ceremonies  that  are  also  met  with  in  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  early  Christians  belonged  exclusively  to  the 
lower  walks  of  life,  and  the  earliest  Church  authorities, 
with  few  exceptions,  were  by  no  means  cultured  or 
highly  educated  persons.  Some  Christian  writers  were 
quite  talented  men  ;  but  few  of  the  Church  fathers  can  be 
said  to  have  enjoyed  more  than  a  mediocre  education. 
Platonic  philosophy,  for  instance,  did  not  enter  into 
Christian  minds  directly,  but  only  through  the  channels 
of  Philo's  books.  Thus  it  is  natural  that  Christians  were 
lacking  both  in  knowledge  as  to  the  origin  of  many 
of  their  rites  and  also  in  critique,  and  when  they  were 
confronted    with    the    same    practices    and    conceptions 


220 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Mithras  Monument  of  Ostburken. 


among  non-Christians,  they  were  puzzled  and  found  no 
other  explanation  for  such  remarkable  coincidences,  than 

the  guiles  of  Satan.  Even 
the  most  peculiarly  Christian 
sacrament,  the  Lord's  Supper, 
was,  according  to  the  tes- 
timony of  Justin  Martyr, 
celebrated  by  the  Persians  in 
the  same  way  as  by  the  Chris- 
tians ;  *  and  Justin  is  in- 
genuous enough  to  attribute 
this  coincidence  without  the 
slightest  hesitation  to  the  in- 
fluence of  evil  spirits.  Tertullian  is  also  aware  of  many 
similarities  between  Church  institutions  and  the  pagan 
modes  of  Mithras  worship,  which  observation  prompted 

him  to  declare  that  ' '  Satan  imi- 
tates the  sacraments  of  God."t 
The  Devil  appears  to  have  been 
very  cunning  in  those  daj^s,  for 
if  he  had  not  daring  spies  in 
heaven,  he  must  himself  have 
anticipated  the  Lord's  plans  ;  for 
the  pagan  institutions  spoken 
of  as  Satanic  imitations,  such  as  the  Persian  haoma  sacri- 
fice, the  eating  of  consecrated  cakes  in  commemoration 

*  Apol..  86. 

\  Dei  sacramenta  Satanas  affectat.     De  exh.  cast.,  13. 

^After  Chiflet.  reproduced  from  C.  W.  King.  Two  erect  serpents  stand  like 
supporters,  on  both  sides.  Mithras,  between  the  stars  of  the  twins  (the  Dioscuri), 
holds  the  horses  of  the  rising  and  of  the  setting  sun,  or  of  life  and  death.  Above 
his  head,  the  raven  ;  in  the  sky,  the  emblems  of  sun  and  moon.  Underneath,  the 
table  with  the  consecrated  bread  and  the  cup  of  the  Eucharist. 


MiTHRAic  Symbols.}; 


GREECE  AND  ITALY, 


221 


of  the  dead  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  life  immortal  are 
older  than  Christianity. 

The  competitors  of  Christianity  which  endeavored  to 


Mithras  the  Saviour.     (Borghesi  Monument,  now  at  the  Louvre  in  Paris  )* 

*  The  monument  bears  the  inscription  "  Deo  Soli  Invicto  Mithrae."  Mithras 
sacrifices  in  a  cave  a  bull  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  A  dog  licks  the  dripping 
blood,  called  "nama  sebesion"  (the  sacred  6uid).  A  serpent  crawls  on  the  ground. 
A  scorpion  pinches  off  the  bull's  testicles.  A  youth  at  the  left  turns  a  torch  up- 
wards ;  at  the  right,  downwards.  A  raven,  which  here  looks  like  an  owl,  witnesses 
the  scene.  Over  the  cave,  the  sungod,  Helios,  and  the  goddess  of  the  moon,  Selene, 
drive  past  in  their  chariots.  Whether  the  sacrifice  of  the  bull  was  practised  or  only 
commemorated  is  not  known.  Concerning  the  significance  of  the  Mithras  mysteries 
little  is  known,  except  that  initiations  were  by  penances,  fasts,  self-mortifications, 
lustrations,  and  water  and  fire  probations.  Baptism  was  practised,  and  Mithras 
was  called  the  mediator  for  the  remission  of  sin.  The  most  important  references 
besides  the  monuments  are  passages  in  Justin  Martyr,  Apol.,  I.,  66.  and  Tertullian, 
Praescr.  haeret  ,  40.  The  Mithras  cult  had  many  votaries  among  the  Roman  sol- 
diery garrisoned  in  the  northern  provinces. 


222  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

embody  the  religious  ideals  of  the  age,  for  various  reasons 
failed  to  be  satisfactory,  leaving  the  field  to  Christianity, 
which  in  its  main  doctrines  was  simple  and  in  its  morality 
direct  and  practical.  But  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
fanaticism  of  Christian  monks  has  almost  totally  wiped 
out  the  traces  of  other  religious  aspirations,  leaving  only 
scattered  fragments,  which  are,  however,  very  interesting 
to  the  historian,  partly  on  account  of  their  similarity  to 
Christianit3^,  partly  through  their  dissimilarities. 

We  know  of  several  Oriental  gods  who  became  fash- 
ionable at  Rome,  among  whom  Mithras,  the  Egyptian 
Serapis,  and  lao- Abraxas  were  the  most  celebrated. 

The  influence  of  Mithras  worship  on  Christianity  is 
well  established.*  We  mention  especially  the  rites  of 
baptism,  the  Eucharist,  facing  the  Orient  in  pra3^er,  the 
sanctification  of  the  day  of  the  sun,  and  the  celebration  of 
the  winter  solstice  as  the  birthday  of  the  Saviour.  Con- 
cerning this  latter  institution,  the  Rev.  Robert  Sinker 
says  in  William  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiqui- 
ties (pp.  357-8): 

"As  Mithraicism  gradually  blended  with  Christianity,  chasnging 
its  name  but  not  altogether  its  substance,  many  of  its  ancient  no- 
tions and  rites  passed  over  too,  and  the  Birthday  of  the  Sun,  the 
visible  manifestation  of  Mithras  himself,  was  transferred  to  the 
commemoration  of  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

"Numerous  illustrations  of  the  above  remarks  may  be  found 
in  ancient  inscriptions,  e.  g.,  SOLI  INVICTO  ET  LUNAE 
AETERNAE    C.   VETTI    GERMANI    LIB.   DUO    PARATUS 

*The  mysteries  of  Mithras  were  introduced  into  Greece  at  the  time  of  Alex- 
ander. They  gained  more  and  more  influence  until  they  reached  a  climax  in  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  era^  Most  of  the  many  monuments  which  the 
Mithras  worship  left  all  over  the  Roman  empire,  especially  in  Gallia  and  Germany, 
date  from  this  period  when  it  had  almost  become  a  rival  of  Christianity. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  223 

ET  HERMES  DEDERUNT,*  or  HAK2  MI0PA  ANIKHTIif  (Gru- 
ter,  Inscriptiones  Anliqiiae,  p.  xxxiii).  In  the  legend  on  the  reverse 
of  the  copper  coins  of  Constantine,  SOLI  INVICTO  COMITI4 
retained  long  after  his  conversion,  there  is  at  once  an  idea  of  the 
ancient  Sun-God,  and  of  the  new  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

"The  supporters  of  this  theory  cite  various  passages  from 
early  Christian  writers  indicating  a  recognition  of  this  view.  Tht- 
sermon  of  Ambrose,  quoted  by  Jablonsky,  is  certainly  spurious,  and 
is  so  marked  in  the  best  editions  of  his  works ;  it  furnishes,  how- 
ever, an  interesting  illustration  of  an  early  date.  The  passage  runs 
thus:  'Bene  quodammodo  sanctum  hunc  diem  Natalis  Domini  ^c- 
' /em  novum  wulgus  appellat,  et  tanta  sui  auctoritate  id  confirmat, 
'ut  Judaei  etiam  atque  Gentiles  in  banc  vocem  consentiant.  Quod 
'Hbenter  amplectandum  nobis  est,  quia  oriente  Salvatore,  non  so- 
'lum  humani  generis  salus,  sed  etiam  solis  ipsius  claritas  innova- 
'tur.'§      {Se>m.  6,  in  Appendice,  p.  357,  ed.  Bened.) 

"In  the  Latin  editions  of  Chrysostom  is  a  homily,  wrongly 
ascribed  to  him,  but  probably  written  not  long  after  his  time,  in 
which  we  read:  'Sed  &X.  Invicti  Nalalem  appellant.  Quis  utique 
'tam  invictus  nisi  Dominus  noster,  qui  mortem  subactam  devicit? 
'Vel  quod  dicunt  Solis  esse  Natalem,  ipse  est  Sol  Justitiae,  de  quo 
'  Malachias  propheta  dixit,  Orietur  vobis  timentibus  nomen  ipsius 
'Sol  Justitiae  et  sanitas  est  in  pennis  ejus.'||  {Scrmo  de  Nativitalr 
S.  Joannis  Baptistae;  vol.  ii.   11 13,  ed.  Paris,  1570. 

*"To  the  unconquerable  sun  and  the  eternal  moon  this  is  given  by  P.  and  H,, 
the  two  children  of  C.  V.  G." 

f  I.  e.,  Helios  (or  the  sun)  Mithras  the  invincible. 

\  "To  the  invincible  Sun,  the  protector." 

§  "Well  do  the  common  people  call  this  somehow  sacred  day  of  the  birth  of 
the  Lord  'a  new  sun,'  and  confirm  it  with  so  great  an  authority  of  theirs  that  Jews 
and  Gentiles  concur  in  this  mode  of  speech.  And  this  should  willingly  be  accepted 
by  us,  because  with  the  birth  of  the  Saviour  there  comes  not  only  the  salvation  of 
mankind,  but  the  brightness  of  the  sun  itself  is  renewed." 

I  "  But  they  call  it  the  birthday  of  the  Invincible  (i.  e.,  Mithras).  Who,  how- 
ever, is  invincible  if  not  our  Lord,  who  has  conquered  death  ?  Further,  if  they  say 
'it  is  the  birthday  of  the  sun,'  He  is  the  sun  of  righteousness,  about  whom  the 
prophet  Malachi  says,  '  Unto  you  that  fear  my  name  shall  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness arise  with  healing  in  his  wings.'"    Observe  in  this  passage  that  the  prophet 


224  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"  Leo  the  Great  finds  fault  with  the  baneful  persuasion  of  some 
'quibus  haec  dies  solemnitatis  nostrae,  non  tarn  de  Nativitate 
'Christi,  quam  de  novi  ut  dicunt  solis  ortu,  lionorabilis  videlur.'*  {Serm. 
22,  §  6,  vol.  i.  p.  72,  ed.  Ballerini.)  Again,  the  same  father  ob- 
serves: 'Sad  banc  adorandam  in  caelo  et  in  terra  Nativitatem  nul- 
'lus  nobis  dies  magis  quam  hodiernus  insinuat,  et  nova  etiam  in 
'elementis  luce  radiante,  coram  (al.  totam)  sensibus  nostris  mira- 
'bilis  sacramenti  ingerit  claritatem.'t     (Serm.  26,  §  i,  p.  87.) 

"  We  may  further  cite  one  or  two  instances  from  ancient  Chris- 
tian poets :  Prudentius,  in  his  hymn  Ad  Natalem  Domini,  thus 
speaks  {^Cathemerinon,  xi.  init.,  p.  364,  ed  Arevalus) : 

'Quid  est.  quod  arctum  circulum  sol  jam  recurreos  deserit  ? 
Christusne  terris  nascitur  qui  lucis  auget  tramitem  ?'| 

Paulinus  of  Nola  also  {Poema  xiv.  15-ig,  p.  382,  ed.  Muratori): 

'  Nam  post  solstitium,  quo  Christus  corpore  natus 
Sole  novo  gelidae  mutavit  tempora  brumae, 
Atque  salutiferum  praestans  mortalibus  ortum, 
Procedente  die,  secura  decrescere  noctes 
Jussit.'§ 

Reference  may  also  be  made  to  an  extract  in  Assemani  {Bibl.  Or. 
I  .  163)  from   Dionysius  Bar-Salibi,  bishop  of  Amida,  which  shows 

thinks  of  the  sun   of  God  after  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  fashion,  as  having; 
wings  which  are  of  a  wholesome  or  healing  influence. 

The  preceding  lines  of  this  quotation  from  Chrysostom  (Hom.  31)  plainly 
state  that  Christ's  birthday  has  been  fixed  upon  the  day  of  the  birth  of  Mithras  : 
"On  this  day  (the  birthday  of  Mithras)  also  the  birthday  of  Christ  was  lately 
tixed  at  Rome  in  order  that  whilst  the  heathen  were  busied  with  their  profane  cere- 
monies, the  Christians  might  perform  their  holy  rites  undisturbed." 

*  "  Some  to  whom  this  day  of  our  celebration  is  worthy  of  honor  not  so  much 
on  account  of  the  birth  of  Christ  as  for  the  sake  of  the  renewal  of  the  sun." 

f  "  But  no  other  day  appears  to  us  more  appropriate  than  to-day  for  worship- 
ping in  heaven  and  earth  the  Feast  of  the  Nativity,  and  while  even  in  the  material 
world  (in  the  elements)  a  new  light  shines.  He  confers  on  us  before  our  very  senses, 
the  brightness  of  His  wonderful  sacrament." 

\  "  Why  does  the  sun  already  leave  the  circle  of  the  arctic  north  ? 

Is  not  Christ  born  upon  the  earth  who  will  the  path  of  light  increase  ? " 
§  "Truly,  after  the  solstice,  when  Christ  is  born  in  the  body. 

With  a  new  sun  he  will  change  the  frigid  days  of  the  north  wind. 

While  he  is  offering  to  mortals  the  birth  that  will  bring  them  salvation, 

Christ  with  the  progress  of  days  gives  command  that  the  nights  be  declining.  ' 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


225 


traces  of  a  similar  feeling  in  the  East ;  also  to  a  passage  from  an 
anonymous  S3'rian  writer,  who  distinctly  refers  the  fixing  of  the 
day  to  the  above  cause ;  we  are  not  disposed,  however,  to  attach 
much  weight  to  this  last  passage.  More  important  for  our  purpose 
is  the  injunction  of  a  council  of  Rome 
(743  A.D.):  '  Ut  nuUus  Kalendas  Janua- 
rias  et  broma  (=  brumalia)  colere 
praesumpserit'*  (can.  g,  Labb6  vi. 
1548),  which  shows  at  any  rate  that 
for  a  long  time  after  the  fall  of  heath- 
enism, many  traces  of  heathen  rites 
still  remained." 

^on,  the  lion  faced,  with 
key,  torch,  and  measuring  staff 
is  a  divinity  of  considerable  im- 
portance in  the  religion  of  Mith- 
ras. He  is  the  Zrvan  Akarana 
(Time  unlimited)  of  the  Zcnd- 
avesta^  not  so  much  a  personality 
as  a  personified  abstraction,  repre- 
senting the  primordial  state  of  ex- 
istence from  which  Ahura  Mazda 
is  born.  The  serpent's  coils  that 
surround  his  body  represent  the 
revolutions  of  time,  his  wings  the 
four  seasons.  His  relation  to  the 
deities  of  the  Greek  pantheon,  Hephaestus,  ^'Esculapius, 
Hermes,  and  Dionysius,  is  indicated  by  the  presence  of 
their  emblems. 

*  "  No  one  shall  celebrate  the  ist  of  January  and  the  Brumalia."  , 

f  The  statue  here  reproduced  was  found  in  the  Mithraeum  of  Ostia,  where  C. 
Valerius  Heracles  and  his  sons  dedicated  it  in  the  year  igo  A.  D,;  it  was  figured 
for  the  first  time  by  Layard  in  his  Recherchcs  sur  Mithra,  Plate  LXX.  Similar 
statues  are  found  in  various  Mithras  caves. 


.Eon  or  Zrvan  Akarana. 
Unlimited  Time.f 


226  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Mr.  W.  C.  King  quotes  from  Flaminius  Vacca  (No. 
117)  the  interesting  story  of  the  discovery  of  an  ^on 
statue  as  follows : 

"I  remember  there  was  found  in  the  vineyard  of  Sig.  Orazio 
Muti  (where  the  treasure  was  discovered),  opposite  S.  Vitale,  an 
idol  in  marble,  about  5  palms  high  (31^  feet),  standing  erect  upon 
a  pedestal  in  an  empty  chamber,  with  the  door  walled  up.  Around 
him  were  many  little  lamps  in  terra  cotta,  set  with  their  nozzles 
towards  the  idol.  This  had  a  lion's  head,  and  the  rest  of  the  body 
that  of  a  man.  Under  his  feet  was  a  globe,  whence  sprang  a  ser- 
pent which  encompassed  all  the  idol,  and  its  head  entered  into  his 
mouth.  He  had  his  hands  crossed  upon  the  breast :  a  key  in  each, 
four  wings  fastened  upon  the  shoulders,  two  pointing  upwards,  two 
downwards.  I  do  not  consider  it  a  very  antique  work,  being  done 
in  a  rude  manner;  or  perhaps  it  is  so  ancient  that  at  the  time  it 
was  made  the  good  st^-le  was  not  yet  known.  Sig.  Orazio,  how- 
ever, told  me  that  a  theologian,  a  Jesuit  Father,  explained  its 
meaning,  saying  it  signified  the  Devil,  who  in  the  time  of  heathen- 
ism ruled  over  the  world;  hence  the  globe  under  his  feet ;  the  ser- 
pent which  begirt  him  and  entered  into  his  mouth,  his  foretelling 
the  future  with  ambiguous  responses  ;  the  keys  in  his  hands,  his 
sovereignty  over  the  world  ;  the  lion's  head,  the  ruler  of  all  beasts. 
The  wings  signified  his  presence  everywhere.  Such  was  the  version 
given  by  the  aforesaid  Father.  I  have  done  everything  to  see  the 
idol,  but  Sig.  Orazio  being  now  dead,  his  heirs  do  not  know  what 
has  become  of  it.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  by  the  advice  of  the  theo- 
logian, Sig.  Orazio  may  have  sent  it  to  some  lime-kiln  to  cure  its 
dampness,  for  it  had  been  buried  many  and  many  a  year." 

lao,  the  god  with  the  adorable  name  (i.  e.,  Abraxas)  ,* 
bears  the  cock's  head,  which  is  the  emblem  of  ^scula- 
pius,  the  god  of  healing.     When  Socrates   died  he  re- 

*  Abrak  is  Egyptian,  and  means  "bow  down"  or  "adore."  The  word  occurs 
In  the  Bible,  Gen.  41,  43.  Sas  (standing  for  Sadshi)  means  "name."  Abraxas  is 
the  name  to  be  adored.     (See  King,  The  Gtiostics,  p.  36. ) 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


227 


quested  his  friends  to  sacrifice  a  cock  to  y^sculapius  be- 
cause his  soul  had  recovered  from  the  disease  of  bodily 
existence.  The  serpent  (the  emblem  of  mystery,  of  eter- 
nity, of  wisdom,  the  prophet  of  the  gnosis)  walks  without 
feet,  and  therefore  lao  is  serpent-legged. 

The  God  of  Goodness,  or  Agathodsemon,  exercised 
a  great  charm  upon  the  minds  of  the  people.  He  is  rep- 
resented on  gems  in  the  shape  of  a  serpent  whose  head  is 
surrounded  with   solar  rays,  hovering  about  the  sacred 


Abraxas  Gem.* 


AoATHOD.'EMON.f 


Iao  Gem. 


cista,  the  cylindrical  box,  from  which  the  priest  emerged 
at  the  celebration  of  the  mj'stery. 

The  design  of  the  Agathodsemon  is  as  common  as 
the  Iao  design  and  that  it  was  used  as  an  amulet  appears 
from  a  passage  of  Galen,  who  says: 

"Some,  indeed,  assert  that  a  virtue  of  this  kind  is  inlierent  in 
certain  stones,  such  as  is  in  reahty  possessed  by  the  green  jasper, 
which  benefits  the  chest   and   mouth  of   the   stomach,  if   tied  upon 

*The  inscription  reads,  "Gabriel  Sabaoth,"  i.  e.,  The  strong  God  Zebaoth. 
The  second  P  (i.  e.,  A')  is  a  mistake  which  the  stone  cutter  made  for  A  (i.  e.,  X). 

Bellermann,  in  his  remarks  on  Abraxas-gems,  in  a  "Programm  des  Grauen 
Klosters"  (Berlin,  1817-1819)  describes  the  gem.  The  priest  of  Abraxas  carries  a 
serpent  coiled  up  in  the  form  of  a  ring,  and  a  lance  round  which  entwines  another 
serpent.  His  head  is  crowned  by  a  strange  head-dress  of  four  feathers  (presumably 
of  the  Phoenikopteros)  and  surrounded  by  three  stars. 

f  From  C.  W.  King.  The  first  line  of  the  inscription  is  between  X  crosses  ;  it 
is  explained  to  mean  "  I  am  the  Good  Spirit,  the  Eternal  Sun." 


228 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


them.  Some,  indeed,  set  the  stone  in  a  ring  and  engrave  upon  it 
a  serpent  with  his  head  crowned  with  rays,  according  as  is  pre- 
scribed by  King  Nechepsos  in  his  thirteenth  book." 

How  excusable  these  gnostic  superstitions  were  in 
those  daj's  appears  from  the  strange  fact  that  svich  a  sober 
man  as  Galen  believed  in  the  efficiency  of  these  amulets. 
He  continues : 

"Of  this  I  have  had  ample  experience,  having  made  a  neck- 
lace of  such  stones  and  hung  it  round  the  patient's  neck,  descend- 
ing low  enough  for  the  stones  to  touch  the 
mouth  of  the  stomach,  and  they  proved  to 
be  of  no  less  benefit  thus  than  if  they  had 
been  engraved  in  the  manner  laid  down  by 
King  Nechepsos."     (De  Simp.  Med.,  IX.) 

To  us  who  have  grown  up  under 
the  influence  of  Christian  traditions, 
the  idea  of  representing  the  Good  God 
under  the  allegory  of  a  serpent  seems 
strange,  but  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
other  people  and  other  ages  had  differ- 
ent ideas  associated  with  the  serpent. 
To  the  people  of  the  Orient  the  limb- 
less serpent  was  a  s^'mbol  of  niysterj-, 
and  represented  health  and  immortal- 
ity.    Eusebius  (I.,  7)  informs  us : 

"The  serpent  never  dies  naturally,  but  only  when  injured  by 
violence,  whence  the  Phcenicians  have  named  it  the  good  genius 
(Agathodffimon).  Similarly  the  Egyptians  have  called  him  Cneph 
and  given  him  a  hawk's  head  on  account  of  the  special  swiftness  of 
that  bird." 

Serapis,  which  is  a  Hellenised  form  of  Osiris-Apis, 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  229 

was  a  religion  which  in  many  respects  resembled  Chris- 
tianity. Their  sacred  symbol  was  the  cross,  as  we  know 
through  Christian  authors,'''  and  Emperor  Adrian  (no 
mean  authority  in  such  matters)  speaks  of  Serapis  wor- 
shippers as  Christians,  saying  that  those  who  consecrated 
themselves  to  Serapis  called  themselves  "bishops  of 
Christ."  Even  if  a  local  blending  of  Christianity  with 
the  Serapis  cult  in  Egypt  had  not  taken  place  we  must 
recognise  that  the  monkish  institutions  of  the  Serapean 
temples  were  an  exact  prototype  of  the  Christian  monas- 
teries which  originated  in  Egj'pt  and  flourished  there  bet- 
ter than  anywhere  else. 

The  Serapis  cult  was  a  reformation  of  the  old  Egyp- 
tian Osiris  worship,  introduced  by  Ptolemy  So- 
ter  for  the  purpose  of  adapting  the  old  tradi- 
tions of  Egypt  to  the  Hellenic  culture  of  Alex- 
andria. 

Akin  in  spirit  but  independent  in  its  devel- 
opment, is  the  worship  of  the  Egyptian  Tot,  the 
ibis-headed  scribe  of  the  gods.  Originally  a  personifica- 
tion of  the  moon.  Tot,  or  Tehuti,  was  the  deity  of  all 
measure,  and  thus  his  importance  grew  to  signif}-  the 
.divine  cosmic  order.  He  is  called  "Ibis  the  Glorious," 
and  "the  Ibis  who  proceeded  ffoni  Ptah."  Osiris,  the 
dying  and  resurrected  God,  is  identified  with  him  as 
"  Osiris  the  Ibis,  the  Blessed  One."  Together  with  the 
moon  god,  Xunsu  and  Maut,  he  is  worshipped  in  the 
trinity  Xunsu-Maut-Tehuti  as  the  "child  ever  being 
born  again."  t 

*See  Socrates,  Eccl.  Hist.,  5,  17,  which  report  is  repeated  by  Sozomenes. 
■f-R.  Pietschmann.     Hermes  Trismegistos,  p.  7. 


230 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Among  the  Greeks,  Tot  was  identified  with  Hermes, 
who  now  begins  to  play  a  very  prominent  role  as  Hermes 
Trismegistos,  the  thrice  great,  the  saviour  of  souls. 
Hermes  is  now  adored  as  the  first-born  son  of  Zeus,  and 
is  even  identified  with  the  father  of  the  gods  as  his  repre- 
sentative and  plenipotentiary. 

The  philosophers  of  the  time  bear  the  stamp  of  their 
age.  Thus  Seneca,  Epictetus,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and 
other  pagan  sages  are  kindred  in  spirit  to  the  Christian 
religion ;  they  are  under  the  influence  of  Platonism ; 
they  object  to  the  idolatry  of  pol3'theisni  and  demand  a 


Hermes, 
Saviour  ok  Souls. 


Staff  of  Hermes. 


Hermes  as  Jupiter. 


pure  theism  ;  they  speak  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  ;  they 
insist  upon  moralitj'  and  are  inclined  to  conceive  the  soul 
as  di-stinct  from,  and  superior  to,  the  body  which  is  re- 
garded as  its  temporal  tabernacle,  and  as  the  seat,  if  not 
cause,  of  all  evil.  Yet  they  are  philosophers,  not  pastors. 
They  are  too  aristocratic  to  appreciate  their  kinship  to 
Christianit^^  They  even  show  a  contempt  for  the  re- 
ligion of  the  vulgar,  and  they  themselves  appeal  to  the 
thinkers,  not  to  the  toilers,  not  to  the  multitudes,  not  to 
the  poor  in  spirit. 

Graeco- Egyptians   developed  a  religious   philosophy 
upon  the  basis  of  ancient  Egyptian  traditions,  compiled 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  231 

in  a  book  called  the  Divine  Pymander*  whicli  contains 
many  beautiful  sayings  that  remind  us  of  Christian 
views;  hut  t\ie^  Divine  Pymmzder  (like  other  philosophi- 
cal books)  is  addressed  to  the  few  not  to  the  many,  and 
its  mysticism  rendered  it  unfit  to  become  the  religion  of 
mankind. 

Apollonius  of  T3'ana  is  a  figure  in  many  respects 
similar,  but  by  no  means  superior,  to  Jesus  Christ.  For 
in  him  the  philosophy  of  the  age  becomes  a  religion.  His 
followers,  however,  were  neither  better  nor  wiser  than 
the  early  Christians ;  they  shared  with  them  the  same 
superstitions,  cherishing  the  same  trust  in  miracles,  yet 
for  all  we  know,  they  had  only  few  of  their  redeeming 
features. 

Julian,  surnamed  by  Christian  authors  the  Apostate, 
is  in  spite  of  his  idealism  a  reactionary  man  who  set 
his  face  against  Christianity  because  he  recognised  in  the 
latter  the  most  powerful  representative  of  the  coming 
faith.  This  last  pagan  emperor,  it  is  true,  was  a  noble- 
minded  and  thoughtful  man  who  opposed  Christianit}- 
mainly  on  account  of  its  shortcomings,  its  Jewish  afifilia- 
tions,  and  the  narrowness  of  its  devotees,  but  he  was 
enamored  with  the  past,  and  his  highest  ambition  was  to 
revive  the  barbarism  of  pagan  institutions,  which  tend- 
ency appears  most  plainly  in  his  retention  of  bloody  sac- 
rifices, his  esteem  for  oracles  and  a  general  indulgence 
in  the  mysteries  of  Neo-Platonism. 

The  various  schools  of  post-Christian  gnosticism 
were  in  all  probability  the  most  dangerous  competitors  of 

*The  term  "  Pymander"  is  commonly  explained  to  mean  rroifiyv  avdpuv,  i.  e., 
"shepherd  of  man." 


232  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Christianity,  which  explains  the  bitterness  with  which 
the  Church-fathers  revile  gnostic  doctrines.  But  the 
gnostics  were  after  all  so  similar  to  the  Christians  that 
some  Church-fathers  use  the  name  "Gnostic"  as  a  syno- 
nym for  Christians.  Gnostic  teachers  are  looked  upon 
less  as  strangers  than  as  heretics,  and  their  speculations 
have  been  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of 
Christian  dogmas. 

The  gnostics,  as  a  rule,  represent  the  demiurge,  i.e., 
the  architect  of  the  world,  whom  they  identify  with  the 
Jewish  Yahveh,  as  the  father  of  all  evil.  They  describe 
him  as  irascible,  jealous,  and  revengeful,  and  contrast 
him  with  the  highest  God  who  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  creation.  As  the  demiurge  created  the  world,  he  has 
a  right  to  it,  but  he  was  overcome  through  the  death  of 
Jesus.  The  demiurge  thought  to  conquer  Jesus  when  he 
let  him  die  on  the  cross,  but  his  triiimph  was  preposter- 
ous, for  through  the  passion  and  death  of  the  innocent 
Jesus  the  victory  of  God  was  won  and  the  salvation  of 
mankind  became  established. 

One  peculiarly  interesting  sect  of  gnostics  is  called 
the  Ophites,  or  serpent  worshippers.  The  demiurge 
(so  they  hold) ,  on  recognising  the  danger  that  might 
result  from  the  emancipation  of  man  through  gnosis 
(i.  e.,  knowledge  or  enlightenment),  forbade  him  to  eat 
from  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge.  But  the  God, 
the  highest  Lord,  the  all-good  and  all-wise  Deit}-,  took 
compassion  on  man  and  sent  the  serpent  to  induce  him 
to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  so  that  he  might  escape 
the  bondage  of  ignorance  in  which  Yahveh,  the  demi- 
urge, tried  to  hold  him. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


233 


The  serpent  appears  on  many  gnostic  gems  and  is 
never  missing  in  the  Mithras  monuments.  Frequently  it 
is  found  on  Christian  devices  where  it  is  sometimes  diffi- 
cult to  interpret  it  as  the  representative  of  evil. 

Irenseus,  an  adversary  of  the  gnostic  view,  replaced 
the  demiurge  by  the  Devil,  whom  he  regards  as  a  rebel 
angel,  having  fallen  by  pride  and  arrogance,  envying 
God's  creation  {Adv.  //o'r.,  No.  40).  He  agrees,  how- 
ever, with  the  gnostics,  in  that  he  maintains  that  the 
Devil  had  claims  upon  man  because  of  man's  sin.    Jesus, 


A  Ship  Symbolising 
THE  Church. 


A  Christian  Gem  with 
Serpent, 


A  Gnostic  Gem. 


however,  having  paid  the  debt  of  mankind,  has  the  power 
to  redeem  the  souls  of  men  from  the  clutches  of  the  Devil 
who,  by  having  treated  a  sinless  man  as  a  sinner,  became 
now  himself  a  debtor  of  mankind. 

This  juridical  theory  of  the  death  of  Jesus  and  his 
relation  to  the  Devil  was  further  elaborated  by  Origen. 
According  to  Origen  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  is  not  rendered 
to  make  an  atonement  to  God  or  satisfj^  his  feeling  of 
justice  (which  is  the  Protestant  conception) ,  but  to  pay 
off  the  Devil.  Jesus  is,  as  it  were,  a  bait  for  the  Devil. 
Satan  imagines  he  must  destroy  Jesus,  but  having  sue- 


234 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


ceeded  in  killing  Wm,  finds  out  to  his  unspeakable  regret 
that  he  has  been  outwitted  by  the  Lord.  God  had  set  a 
trap,  and  the  Devil  was  foolish  enough  to  allow  himself  to 
be  caught. 

Manes,  a  man  educated  in  the  Zoroastrian  faith,  en- 
deavored to  found  a  universal  religion  through  the  syn- 
thesis of  all  the  religions  he  knew ;  and  because  Mani- 
cheism,  as  this  view  is  called,  contains  many  Christian 
elements,  it  is  commonly  regarded  as  a  Christian  or  a 
gnostic  sect,  but  it  was  strongly  denounced  as  heretical 
by  St.  Augustine.     Manes  taught  the  Persian  dualism, 


Christian  Symbols  of  the  Catacombs. 

but  St.  Augustine,  who  formulated  the  orthodox  Chris- 
tian doctrine  denying  the  independent  existence  of  evil, 
explains  the  presence  of  sin  in  the  world  by  the  free  will 
with  which  Adam  was  endowed  at  creation,  and  regards 
evil  as  a  means   to  an  end  in  God's  plan  of  education. 


Christianity  triumphed  over  paganism,  and  it  did  so 
by  embodying  in  its  fabric  everything  that  in  those  days 
was  regarded  as  true  and  good  and  elevating.  Thus  the 
adoration  of  statues  and  images,  at  first  so  vehemently 
denounced  by  Christians  as  heathenish,  was  reintroduced 
with  all  the  pagan  methods  of  worship,  the  burning  of 


GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


235 


incense,  processions,  sprinkling  with  lioly  water,  and 
other  rituals.  The  old  symbol  of  the  labarum  was  inter- 
preted as  the  monogram  of  Christ ;  and  the  sacred  mark  of 
two  intersecting  lines,  a  religious  emblem  of  great  an- 
tiquity, was  identified  with  the  cross  of  Golgotha.  The 
figure  of  two  intersecting  lines  was  a  mark  of  salvation 
among  the  Syrians  and  other  nations,  and  the  probability 
is  that  it  represented  the  four  quarters  of  the  compass  ;* 
but  now  since  is  was  called  a 
cross,  it  recovered  in  a  higher 
degree  its  traditional  reputa- 
tion as  a  powerful  magic 
charm  and  was  extensively 
used  for  exorcisms. t  There 
is  no  doctrine  on  which  the 
Christian  fathers  so  thor- 
oughly agree  as  on  the  belief 
that  the  Devil  is  afraid  of  the 
cross. 

The    Greek    gods    were 
regarded  as  demons  by  the 
early  Christians,  but  the  ideas  which  found  expression  in 
the  mythology  of  Greece,  in  the  tales  of  Greek  deities 

*The  equilateral  cross  o£  Paganism  is  frequently,  though  not  always,  orna- 
mented with  four  dots,  one  in  each  corner.  We  believe  we  are  not  mistaken  when 
we  interpret  the  dots  as  emblems  of  the  sun  in  its  four  respective  positions,  in  the 
east,  south,  west  and  north.  Egyptian  wall-pictures  show  the  Apis  covered  with 
this  sacred  symbol,  (see  e.  g.  Lenormant,  L'Hist.  Anc.  de  T Orient ,  V.,  183,)  and  it 
serves  as  a  not  uncommon  pattern  on  the  dresses  of  various  Greek  deities. 

\  For  further  details  see  the  author's  articles  on  The  Cross,  Its  History  and 
Significance  in  Tlie  Open  Court,  1899  and  igoo.  Their  publication  in  book  form 
is  contemplated  by  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 

I  From  Egyptian  monuments  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  (After  Wilkinson.) 
The  same  use  of  the  cross,  as  an  amulet  worn  round  the  neck,  was  made  in  Greece, 
as  we  know  from  ancient  pictures,  published  by  Gerhard. 


Aram.^an  Warriors,  Wearing  the 
Cross  as  an  Amulet  for  Pro- 
tection IN  Battle.  I 


236 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


and  heroes,  were  retained  and  Christianised.  The  old 
Greek  saviours  simply  changed  names  and  became  Chris- 
tian saints,  or  at  least  contributed  important  features  to 
the  legends  of  their  lives. 

Christianity  is  a  religion  of  peace,  but  the  Western 
nations  are  warlike,  and  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era  the  need  was  felt  to  have  the  spirit  of  bel- 


St.  Anthony  Fighting  the  Devil 
With  THE  Cross.    See  pp.  239-240. 
(After  Salvator  Rosa.) 


St.  George,  the  Princess,  and  the 

Dragon. 

(Traditional  representation.) 


ligerency  consecrated  b}'  religious  sentiment  and  repre- 
sented in  struggling  saints  and  angels. 

The  Christian  patron  saint  of  fighters  is  St.  George, 
and  it  is  natural  that  the  English,  who  among  the  Chris- 
tian nations  are  not  the  least  pious  and  at  the  same  time 
not  the  least  belligerent,  have  chosen  the  name  of  St. 
George  for  their  battle-cry. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  Ill 

The  legend  and  pictures  of  St.  George  remind  ns 
strongly  of  the  m3'ths  of  Perseus.  In  its  Christian  form 
the  tale  appears  first  in  the  Legendce  Sanctorum  of  Jaco- 
bus de  Voragine,  who  tells  us  of  a  pagan  cit^^  the  neigh- 
borhood of  which  was  infested  by  a  dragon  that  had  to  be 
appeased  by  human  sacrifices.  The  monster  was  finally 
slain  by  St.  George,  a  chivalrous  Christian  knight,  who 
arrived  at  the  moment  the  king's  daughter  was  offered  as 
a  victim.  The  princess,  at  the  request  of  the  knight,  tied 
her  girdle  round  the  dragon's  neck,  who  now,  although 
the  beast  had  been  reported  dead,  rises  and  follows  the 
virgin  like  a  tame  lamb  to  the  city.  The  people  are 
frightened  by  the  sight,  but  St.  George  kills  him  once 
more,  this  time  for  good.  St.  George  is  richly  rewarded, 
but  he  distributes  his  wealth  among  the  poor,  converts 
the  King  and  his  subjects  to  Christianity,  and  goes  to 
another  land,  where  he  dies  a  martyr's  death. 

The  historical  St.  George,  an  archbishop  of  Alexan- 
dria and  a  follower  of  Arius,  possesses  no  features  what- 
ever of  the  heroic  dragon-slayer  of  the  legend.  According 
to  the  unanimous  report  of  Christian  and  pagan  histo- 
rians, he  was  an  abject,  cringing  fellow,  and  when  he  had 
attained  the  high  position  of  archbishop,  proved  a  cruel 
and  extortionate  tyrant  who  was  greatly  hated  by  the 
people.  He  was  deposed  by  the  worldly  authorities  and 
put  in  jail  on  Christmas  eve,  361.  But  his  enemies, 
mostly  poor  people  belonging  to  his  diocese,  grew  tired 
of  the  delay  of  the  law ;  a  mob  broke  open  the  prison 
doors  and  lynched  the  deposed  archbishop  on  January  17, 
362.  His  violent  death  was  later  on  regarded  as  a  suffi- 
cient title  to  the  glory  of  the  mart3'r's  crown.      The  most 


238 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


important  service  he  rendered  the  Church  consisted  in 
the  fact,  that  the  official  recognition  of  an  Arian  saint 
helped  to  reconcile  the  followers  of  Arius. 

Gelarius  seems  to  be  the  first  Roman  Catholic  Pope 
who  mentions  St.  George,  and  he  knows  nothing  of  his 
life,  but  counts  him  among  those  saints  "who  are  better 


Archangel  Michael  Conquering 

Satan. 

(By  Raphael.     In  the  Louvre.) 


Archangel  Michael   Holding  the 

Scales  for  Weighing  Souls.* 

(After  Lorenzo  Sabbatieri.) 


known  to  God  than  to  mankind.""!'  It  is  difficult  to  say 
whether  His  Holiness  was  conscious  of  the  iron}-  of  this 
passage. 

It  is  an  unsolved  problem  how  St.  George  could  have 
been  identified  with  the  dragon-slaying  deities  of  ancient 

*  Reproduced  from  Scheible,  Das  A'/oslcr, 
\  Qui  Deo  miig'is  (/nam  lioim'm'lnis  noli  sunt. 


GREECE  AND  ITALY.  239 

pagan  mytliolog'ies.  The  connecting  links  are  missing, 
but  it  is  probable  that  there  is  no  deeper  reason  than  a 
similarity  in  the  sound  of  names.  Perhaps  a  solar  deity 
was  somewhere  worshipped  under  the  name  ysaypyo?,  i.  e., 
tiller  of  the  ground,  because  tlie  civilisation  of  agriculture 
overcame  the  dragon  of  savage  barbarism. 

The  final  conqueror  of  the  dragon,  however,  is  not 
St.  George,  but  the  Archangel  Michael,  who,  on  the  day 
of  judgment,  plays  the  part  of  Zeus  defeating  the  giants 
and  Typhaeus,  or  the  Teuton  God  Thor,  slaying  the  Mid- 
gard  serpent ;  and  when  the  victory  is  gained  Michael 
will  hold  the  balances  in  which  the  souls  are  weighed. 

The  belligerent  spirit  did  not  remain  limited  to 
Michael  and  St.  George,  but  was  also  imputed  to  other 
saints  who  proved  their  prowess  in  various  ways  in  their 
encounters  with  the  Evil  One.  St.  Anthony,  of  Egj'pt 
(251-356) ,  the  founder  of  the  Christian  monastery  sys- 
tem, is  reported  to  have  battled  with  evil  spirits  in  the 
desert  near  Thebes,  whither  he  withdrew  from  the  world 
to  practise  severe  penances.  His  heroic  deeds,  which 
consist  of  frightful  struggles  with  the  demons  of  his  im- 
agination, have  been  recorded  bj^  the  good  Bishop  Atha- 
nasius,  whose  book  on  the  subject  is  of  special  interest 
because  it  contains  an  essay  written  by  St.  Anthony  him- 
self, containing  the  gist  of  his  wisdom  and  experience  in 
struggling  with  evil  spirits.*  The  artistic  genius  of  Sal- 
vator  Rosa  gave  a  concrete  plausibility  to  the  story  in  a 
highly  dramatic   picture  illustrating  the  combat  in  a  crit- 


*See  the  Acta  Sanctortim  of  the  Bolandists  tor  January  17,  which  is  observed 
as  St.  Anthony's  day.  In  addition  there  are  several  Latin  translations  o£  St.  An- 
thony's letters  extant  in  the  Bibliot'itia  Patrum. 


240  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

ical  moment  when  only  the  cross  saved  the  undaunted 
saint  from  defeat  during  a  daring  onslaught  of  the  fiend 
in  his  most  horrible  shape.  (See  the  illustration  on  page 
236.) 

There  can  scarcely  be  anj'  doubt  that  the  original 
doctrine  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  an  ethics  of  peace ;  not 
only  peacefulness  and  gentleness  of  mind  in  general,  but 
peace  at  any  price,  and  a  non-resistance  to  evil.  The 
warlike  spirit  among  later  Christians  and  the  worship  of 
belligerent  archangels  and  saints  were  introduced  into  the 
writings  of  the  early  Church  from  pagan  sources  and  the 
importance  of  this  phase  of  Christianity  grew  with  its 
expanse  among  the  energetic  races  of  the  North.  The 
Teutonic  nations,  the  Norsemen,  the  Germans,  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  their  kin,  whose  conversion  is  the  greatest 
conquest  Christianity  ever  made,  proved  no  less  belliger- 
ent than  the  Greek  and  Roman,  but  they  were  their  su- 
periors in  strength,  in  generosity,  in  fairness  toward 
their  enemies,  and  in  purity  oi  morals. 


THE  DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE. 


THE  religion  of  the  Teutons  was  in  the  main  a  religion 
of  fighters,  and  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  they, 
more  than  any  other  people  on  earth,  developed  the  ethics 
of  struggle.  War,  strife,  and  competition,  are  frequently 
regarded  as  in  themselves  detestable  and  immoral,  but 
the  Teutons  discovered  that  life  means  strife,  and  that 
therefore  courage  is  the  root  of  all  virtue.  Their  highest 
ideal  was  not  to  shrink  from  the  unavoidable,  but  to  face 
it  squarely  and  unflinchingly.  Their  chief  god  was  the 
god  of  war,  and  their  noblest  consummation  of  life  was 
death  on  the  battlefield.  They  despised  the  coward 
who  was  afraid  of  wounds  and  death.  They  respected 
and  even  honored  their  enemies  if  they  were  but  brave. 
They  scorned  deceit  and  falsity  and  would  rather  be  hon- 
estly defeated  than  gain  a  victory  by  trickery.  And  this 
view  did  not  remain  a  mere  theory  with  them,  but  was 
practised  in  life.  The  Teutons  were  repeatedly  defeated 
by  the  Romans,  by  Marius,  Caesar,  and  others  who  were 
less  scrupulous  in  their  methods  of  fighting,  but  in  the 
long  run  they  remained  victorious  and  built  a  Teutonic 
empire  upon  the  debris  of  Rome. 


242  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Hel,  the  Goddess  of  the  Nether  World      (By  Johannes  Gehrts. 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.       243 

The  idea  of  evil  played  an  important  part  in  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Teutons. 

Loki,  the  god  of  fire,  the  cunning  mischief-maker 
among  the  Asas,  is  believed  to  have  brought  sin  and  evil 
into  the  world.  In  the  younger  Edda,  Loki  takes  part  in 
the  creation  of  man,  whom  he  endows  with  the  senses, 
passions,  and  evil  desires.  Loki's  children  are  (1)  the 
Fenris  wolf,  (2)  the  Jormungauder,  i.  e.,  the  Midgard  ser- 
pent, and  (3)  Hel,  the  queen  of  Nifelheim,  the  world  of 
the  dead. 

Loki  induced  the  gods  to  build  fortifications,  for 
which  the  architect,  who  was  one  of  the  giants  and  an 
enemy  of  the  gods,  should,  if  he  finished  his  woi-k  in 
a  stipulated  time,  receive  as  remuneration  Freyja,  the 
goddess  of  beauty  and  love.  But  when  it  became  ap- 
parent that  the  walls  would  be  soon  completed,  Loki, 
true  to  his  treacherous  character,  assisted  the  gods  in 
cheating  the  architect.  He  further  helped  the  giant 
Thjasse  to  steal  Idun  with  her  immortality-giving  gol- 
den apples.  Only  when  the  gods  threatened  to  punish 
him  did  he  become  accessory  iu  bringing  Idun  back 
again.  The  worst  deed  which  Loki  accomplished  was 
the  death  of  Baldur,  the  god  of  light  and  purity.  After 
that  he  was  outlawed  and  resided  no  longer  in  Asgard. 
But  he  came  back  and  mocked  the  gods  when  they  were 
assembled  at  ^gir's  banquet.  At  last  he  was  captured 
and  in  punishment  for  his  crimes  tied  upon  three  pointed 
rocks  right  beneath  the  mouth  of  a  serpent.  Sigyn,  Loki's 
wife,  remains  with  him  to  catch  the  dripping  venom  in  a 
bowl,  which  from  time  to  time  she  empties.  Whenever 
the  bowl  is  withdrawn  the  venom  drops  into  Loki's  face 


244 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


and  he  writhes  with  pain,  which  makes  the  world  tremble 
in  what  men  call  earthquakes. 


o 

en 

a 
c 

x; 
o 

:>, 


s 

o 
o 

Q 

o 

u: 

o 

< 
z 

o 


The  most  remarkable  feature  of  Teutonic  m3'thology 
is  the  conception  of  doomsday  or  Ragnarok  (the  twiliijht 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.  245 

of  the  gods),  boding  a  final  destruction  of  the  Avorld,  in- 
cluding all  the  gods.  At  present  the  powers  of  evil  are 
fettered  and  subdued,  but  the  time  will  come  when  they 
will  be  set  loose.  Loki,  the  Feniis  wolf,  the  Midgard  ser- 
pent, and  Hel,  with  their  army  of  frost  giants  and  other 
evil  beings,  will  approach;  Heimdall,  the  watchman  of 
the  gods,  will  blow  his  horn,  and  the  Asas  prepare  for 
battle.  The  combat  on  the  field  Vigrid  will  be  inter- 
necine, for  the  Asas  are  to  die  while  killing  the  monsters 
of  wickedness  whom  they  encounter,  and  the  flames  of 
Muspil  will  devour  the  wrecks  of  the  universe. 

The  world  had  a  beginning,  it  therefore  must  come 
to  an  end  ;  but  when  the  world  is  destroyed  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth  will  rise  from  the  wreck  of  the  old  one, 
and  the  new  world  will  be  better  than  the  old  one.  Leif- 
thraser  and  his  wife  Lif  (representing  the  desire  for  Life 
and  potential  Life)  remained  concealed  during  the  catas- 
trophe in  Hodmimer's  grove  and  were  not  harmed  by  the 
flames.  They  now  become  the  parents  of  a  new  race 
that  will  inhabit  the  new  abode,  called  Giviel  (the  Ger- 
man Himniet) ,  and  among  them  will  be  found  Odhiu 
with  his  sons,  Thor,  Baldur,  Fro,  and  all  the  other  Asas. 

Christianity  Teiitonised. 

When  Christianity  spread  over  Northern  Europe  it 
came  into  contact  with  the  Teutonic  and  Celtic  nations, 
who  added  new  ideas  to  its  system  and  transformed  sev- 
eral characteristic  features  of  its  world-view.  Christianitj- 
to-day  is  essentially  a  Teutonic  religion.  The  ethics  of 
Christianity,  which  formerly  was  expressed  in  the  sen- 
tence "Resist  not  evil,"  began,  in  agreement  with  the 


246  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

combative  spirit  of  tlie  Teuton  race,  more  and  more  to 
emphasise  the  necessity  of  struggle.  Not  only  was  the 
figure  of  Christ  conceived  after  the  model  of  a  Teutonic 
war-king,  the  son  of  the  emperor,  while  his  disciples  be- 
came his  faithful  vassals ;  not  only  did  the  archangels 
assume  the  features  of  the  Asas,  the  great  northern 
gods,  Wodan,  Donar,  Fro,  and  others;  not  only  were  the 
old  pagan  feasts  changed  into  Christian  festivals ;  the 
Yuletide  became  Christmas  and  the  Ostara  feast  in  the 
spring  was  celebrated  in  commemoration  of  Christ's  res- 
urrection ;  but  the  individual  features  of  the  evil  pow- 
ers of  the  North  were  also  transferred  to  Satan  and  his 
host. 

Teutonic  legends  and  fairy  tales  frequently  mention 
the  Devil,  and  there  he  possesses  many  features  that  re- 
mind us  of  Loki.  In  addition,  the  ice  giants  of  the  Norse- 
men, the  Nifelheim  of  the  Saxons,  the  Nether-world  of 
the  Irish,  all  contributed  their  share  to  the  popular  no- 
tions of  the  Christian  demonology  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  very  name  "hell"  is  a  Teutonic  word  which  origi- 
nally signified  a  hollow  space  or  a  cave  underground,  and 
denotes  the  realm  of  Hel,  Loki's  daughter.  The  weird 
and  terrible  appearances  of  the  gods,  too,  were  retained 
for  the  adornment  of  demoniacal  legends ;  and  Odhin  as 
storm-god  became  "the  wild  hunter." 

Dr.  Ernst  Krause,  who  is  best  known  under  his 
nam  dc plume  of  Cams  Sterne,  has  undertaken  the  work 
of  proving  the  Northern  influence  upon  Southern  fairy 
tales  and  legends.*  He  finds  that  all  the  m_vths  which 
.symbolise  the  death  and  resurrection  of  tlie  sun,  giving 

*  Die  Trojabiirgeti  Nord-Euiopas.     Glogau.  Carl  Flemming,  1S93. 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.       247 

rise  to  the  idea  of  immortality,  doomsday,  and  tlie  final 
restoration  of  the  world,  have  originated  in  Northern 
countries  where  on  Chri.^tmas  day  the  sun  that  seemed 
lost  returns  spreading  again  light  and  life.  Our  philol- 
ogists believe  that  the  Nibelungenlied  contains  features 
of  Homer's  great  epics;  but,  according  to  Dr.  Krause,  it 
would  seem  that  the  original  source  of  the  Nibelungenlied 
is  older  than  Homer,  an(^  that  the  theme  of  the  Voluspa, 
the  first  song  of  the  Edda,  being  a  vision  that  proclaims 
the  final  destruction  and  degeneration  of  heaven  and 
earth,  antedates  Christ's  prophecies  of  the  coming  judg- 
ment. (Matt.,  24.)  Christianity  comes  to  us  from  the 
Orient,  but  the  idea  that  a  God  will  die  and  be  resur- 
rected is  of  Northern  origin. 

Dr.  Krause  proceeds  to  prove  that  the  conception  of 
hell  as  depicted  in  Dante's  Divina  Comedta,  which  may 
be  regarded  as  the  classical  conception  of  Roman  Catho- 
lic Christianity,  is  in  all  its  essential  elements  the  pro- 
duct of  a  Northern  imagination.*  Dante  followed  closel\- 
Teutonic  traditions,  which  in  his  time  had  become  a  com- 
mon possession  in  the  Christian  world  through  the  writ- 
ings of  Saxo  Grammaticus,  Beda  Venerabilis,  Albericus, 
Caedmon,  Caesarius  of  Heisterbach,  and  others.  It  is 
specially  noteworthy  that  the  deepest  hell  of  Dante's  In- 
ferno is  not,  as  Southern  people  are  accustomed  to  de- 
scribe the  place  of  torture,  a  burning  sulphur  lake,  but 
the  wintry  desolation  of  an  ice-palace.  That  this  ice  hell 
can  be  traced  back  to  the  days  of  Gnosticism  would  only 
prove  that  this  Northern  influence  may,  in  many  of  its 
most  characteristic  features,  date  back  to  a  prehistoric  age. 

*  I'ossische  Zeitung,  1896,  Feb.  2,  g,  10  ;  Sonntagsbeilagen. 


248 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Dante's  vision  is  by  no  means  the  product  of  his  own 
imagination.  It  embodies  a  great  number  of  old  tradi- 
tions. Dante  reproduced  in  his  description  of  Satan  and 
hell  the  mythological  views  of  the  North  so  popular  in 
his  days.  His  cantos  not  only  remind  us  of  Ulysses's 
and  Virgil's  journey  to  the  Nether-world,  but  also  and 
mainly  of  Knight  Owain's  descent  into  St.  Patrick's  Pur- 


Dante's  Ice  Hell       (By  Gustave  Dore.) 

gatory  in  Ireland,  and  of  the  vision  of  hell  as  described 
by  Beda,  Albericus,  and  Chevalier  Tundalus.  In  the  last 
song  of  the  Inferno,  Dante  describes  the  residence  of  the 
sovereign  of  hell,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  thick  fog,  so 
as  to  make  it  necessary  for  the  poet  to  be  led  by  the  hand 
of  his  guide.  There  the  ice-palace  stands  almost  inacces- 
sible through  the  cold  blizzards  that  blow  about  it ;   and 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.       249 

there  the  ruler  of  hell  and  his  most  cursed  fellows  stand 
with  their  bodies  partly  frozen  in  the  transparent  ice. 

Dante's  portraiture  of  the  evil  demon  whom  he  calls 
' '  Dis  ' '  agrees  exactly  with  the  appearance  of  the  princi- 
pal Northern  deity  of  evil,  as  he  was  commonly  revered 
among  the  Celts,  the  Teutons,  and  the  Slavs.  Dis  has 
three  faces :  one  in  front,  and  one  on  each  side.  The  mid- 
dle face  is  red,  that  on  the  right  side  whitish-yellow,  that 
on  the  left  side,  black.  Thus  the  trinity  idea  was  trans- 
ferred to  Satan  on  account  of  the  ill-shaped  idols  of  the 
crude  art  of  Northern  civilisation.  Dante's  description  of 
Dis  reminds  us  not  only  of  the  three-headed  hoar-giant 
of  the  Edda,  Hrini-Grimnir,  who  lives  at  the  door  of 
death,  but  also  of  the  trinity  of  various  pagan  gods,  espe- 
cially of  Trigiaf,  the  triune  deity  of  the  Slavs. 

When  Bishop  Otto  of  Bamberg  converted  the  Pome- 
ranians to  Christianity,  he  broke,  in  1124,  the  three- 
headed  Trigiaf  idol  in  the  temple  of  Stettin  and  sent  its 
head  to  Pope  Honorius  II.  at  Rome.  Dr.  Krause  sug- 
gests that  since  Dante,  who  as  an  ambassador  of  Florence 
visited  Rome  in  1301,  must  have  seen  with  his  own  eyes 
the  head  of  the  Pomeranian  Trigiaf,  it  is  by  no  means 
impossible  that  he  used  it  as  a  prototype  for  the  descrip- 
tion of  his  trinitarian  Satan. 

TIic   Giants. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  transformation  of  the 
old  Teutonic  giants  who  were  plain  personifications  of 
the  crude  forces  of  nature,  into  Christian  devils.  North- 
ern mythology  represents  the  giants,  be  they  mountain- 
giants,  storm-giants,  frost-giants,  fog-giants,  or  what  not, 


250  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

as  stupid,  and  they  are  frequently  conquered  by  the  wis- 
dom of  the  gods,  or  by  human  cunning  and  invention. 
There  are  innumerable  legends  which  preserve  the  old 
conception  and  simply  replace  the  names  of  giants  by 
devils;  and  we  can  observe  that  all  the  conquests  of  man 
over  nature  are,  in  the  old  sense  of  the  Teutonic  m3-th- 
ology,  described  as  instances  in  which  giants  or  devils 
are  outwitted  in  one  way  or  another. 

The  giants,  as  representatives  of  mountains,  forests, 
rivers,  lakes,  and  the  soil  of  the  earth,  are  always  bent  on 
collecting  the  rent  that  is  due  to  the  owner  of  the  land, 
for  men  are  merely  tenants  of  the  earth ,  which  by  right 
belongs  to  the  giants.  The  giants  envy  men  their  com- 
fort and  try  to  destroy  their  work.  Thus  the  fog-giant 
Grendel  appears  at  night-time  in  the  hall  of  King  Hrodh- 
gar  and  devours  at  each  visit  thirty  men.  Beowulf,  the 
sun -hero,  fights  with  him  and  cuts  off  his  arm ;  he  then 
encounters  Grendel's  mother,  the  giantess  of  the  marsh 
whence  the  fog  rises,  and  finally  succeeds  in  killing  both 
Grendel  and  his  mother. 

The  parades  of  giant  families  which  form  an  impor- 
tant feature  of  Dutch  and  Flemish  carnivals  may  be  a 
relic  of  older  customs  representing  visits  of  the  lords  of 
the  ground  collecting  their  rents,  which  is  given  in  re- 
freshments while  the  people  sing  the  giant-song*  with 
the  refrain : 

"Keer  u  eens  otn,  reuzjen,  reiizjen!" 
[Return  once  more  little  giant,  little  giant.] 

* Floegel's  Geschichle  des  Grotesk-h'omischen,  by  Ebeling,  p.  286,  quotes  the 
giant-song  as  sung  in  Ypern. 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.       251 


Burying  Alive. 

The  pi"ivilege  of  collecting  rent  whicli  the  forces  of 
nature,  be  they  gods,  demons,  or  giants,  and  later  on  in 
their  stead,  the  Devil,  were  supposed  to  possess,  led  to  the 
idea  of  offering  sacrifices  in  payment  of  the  debt  due  to 
the  powerful  and  evil-minded  landlords,  the  owners  of  the 
soil.  And  this  notion  resulted  in  the  superstition  of 
burying  alive  either  human  beings  or  animals,  a  practice 
which  at  a  certain  stage  of  civilisation  probably  was  all 
but  universal  and  received  even  the  sanction  of  the  God 
of  Israel.* 

Grimm  says  {Mythology^  p.  109) : 

"  Frequently  it  was  regarded  as  necessary  to  entomb  within 
tlie  foundation  of  a  building  living  creatures  and  even  men,  an  act 
which  was  regarded  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  soil  which  had  to  endure 
the  weight  of  the  structure.  By  this  cruel  custom  people  hoped 
to  attain  permanence  and  stability  for  great  buildings." 

There  are  innumerable  stories  which  preserve  rec- 
ords of  this  barbaric  custom,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  many  of  them  are  historical  and  that  the  practice 
continued  until  a  comparatively  recent  time.  We  read  in 
Thiele  {Ddnische  Volkssagen^  I.,  3)  that  the  walls  of  Co- 
penhagen always  sank  down  again  and  again,  although 
they  were  constantly  rebuilt,  until  the  people  took  an  in- 
nocent little  girl,  placed  her  on  a  chair  before  a  table,  gave 
her  toys  and  sweets,  and  while  she  merrily  played,  twelve 
masons  covered  the  vault  and  finished  the  wall,  which 
since  that  time  remained  stable.     Scutari  is  said  to  have 

*  1  Book  of  Kings,  xvi.  34. 


252  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

been  built  in  a  similar  way.  A  ghost  appeared  while  the 
fortress  was  in  the  process  of  building,  and  demanded  that 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  three  kings  who  should  bring  the 
food  to  the  masons  on  the  next  day  should  be  entombed 
in  the  foundation.  Being  a  young  mother,  she  was  per- 
mitted to  nurse  her  baby,  and  a  hole  was  left  for  that 
purpose  which  was  closed  as  soon  as  the  child  was 
weaned. 

We  read  in  F.  Nork's  Sitten  tind  Gebrduche  {Das 
Kloster,  Vol.  XII.)  that  when  in  1813  the  ice  broke  the 
dam  of  the  river  Elbe  and  the  engineers  had  great  trouble 
in  repairing  it,  an  old  man  addressed  the  dike-inspector, 
saying :  "  You  will  never  repair  the  dike  unless  3'ou  bury 
in  it  an  innocent  little  child,"  and  Grimm  adduces  even 
a  more  modern  instance  {Sagen^  p.  1095)  which  dates 
from  the  year  1843.  "When  the  new  bridge  in  Halle 
was  built,"  Grimm  tells  us,  "  the  people  talked  of  a  child 
which  should  be  buried  in  its  foundations." 

So  long  did  these  superstitions  continue  after  the 
cruel  rite  had  been  abandoned;  and  they  were  held,  not 
only  in  spite  of  the  higher  morality  which  Christianity 
taught,  but  even  in  the  name  of  Christianity.  In  Tom- 
maseo's  Canti  Popiilari  an  instance  is  quoted  of  the 
voice  of  an  archangel  from  heaven  bidding  the  builders 
of  a  wall  entomb  the  wife  of  the  architect  in  its  foun- 
dation. The  practice  is  here  regarded  as  Christian  and 
it  is  apparent  that  there  are  instances  in  which  Christian 
authorities  were  sufficiently  ignorant  to  sanction  it,  for 
even  the  erection  of  churches  was  supposed  to  require  the 
same  cruel  sacrifice;  and  there  were  cases  in  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  special  sanctity  of  the  place,  it  was  deemed 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE-       253 

necessary  to  bury  a  priest,  because  children  or  women 
were  not  regarded  as  sufficient.  In  Giinther's  Sagenbuch 
des  Deutschen  Volkes  (Vol.  I.,  p.  33  ff.)  we  read  that  the 
Strassburg  cathedral  required  the  sacrifice  of  two  human 
lives,  and  that  two  brothers  He  buried  in  its  foundation. 

The  Power  of  Evil  Outwitted. 

The  presence  of  all  the  big  bowlders  that  lie  scattered 
in  the  low  lands  of  Germany  is  attributed  either  to  giants 
or  to  the  devils ;  they  are  sometimes  said  to  be  sand- 
grains  which  giants  removed  from  their  shoes,  or  they 
were  thrown  down  in  anger  when  they  found  themselves 
cheated  out  of  their  own  by  the  wit  of  mortals. 

There  is  a  Aldrcken  of  a  farmer  who  undertook  to 
till  heretofore  uncultivated  ground  and  the  Devil  (that 
is  to  say,  the  giant  who  owned  the  land  and  had  seen 
nothing  except  sterile  rocks  and  desolate  deserts)  gazed 
with  astonishment  at  the  green  plants  that  sprang  from 
the  earth.  He  demanded  half  the  crop,  and  the  farmer 
left  him  his  choice  whether  he  would  take  the  upper 
or  the  lower  half.  When  the  Devil  chose  the  lower 
half,  the  farmer  planted  wheat,  and  when  the  upper  half, 
he  planted  turnips,  leaving  him  now  the  stubble  and  now 
the  useless  turnip  tops.  Whichever  way  the  Devil  turned 
be  was  outwitted.* 

The  story  came  in  its  migration  south  to  Arabia, 
where  it  was  discovered  by  Friedrich  Riickert,who  retold 
it  in  his  poem  "The  Devil  Outwitted,"!  which  Mr.  E. 

*  Grimm,   Marchcn,    No.    189.      Deutsche  Mythologie,  No.  981.     Miillenhoff. 
No.  377.     Thiele,  Datiische  Sagen,  No.  122. 
\Der  betrogene  Teufel. 


254  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

F.  L.  Gauss,  of  Chicago,  has  kindl3'  translated  for  the 
special  purpose  of  quotation  in  this  connection : 

"  The  Arabs  tilled  their  fields  align, 
Then  came  the  Devil  in  a  flare 
Protesting  :    '  Half  the  world  is  mine, 
Of  your  crops,  too,  I  want  my  share.' 

'•  The  Arabs  said,  for  they  are  sly, 

'  The  lower  half  we'll  give  to  thee,' 
But  the  Devil,  always  aiming  high, 
Replied  :     '  It  shall  the  upper  be  !' 

"  They  turnips  sowed  all  o'er  their  field, 
And  when  he  came  to  share  the  crops, 
The  Arabs  took  the  subsoil  yield, 
And  the  Devil  got  the  turnip  tops- 

"  And  when  another  3'ear  came  round 
The  Devil  spoke  in  wrathful  scorn : 
'To  have  the  lower  half  I'm  bound  ! ' 
The  Arabs  then  sowed  wheat  and  com, 

"  When  came  the  time  again  to  share. 

The  Arabs  took  the  sheaves  pell-mell. 
The  Devil  took  the  stubbles  bare 
And  fed  with  them  the  fire  of  hell." 

There  are  innumerable  other  legends  of  stupid  devils. 
A  miller  of  the  Devil-mill  in  Kleinbautzen  tied  the  Devil 
to  the  water- wheel.'''  A  smith  who  for  his  hospitality  once 
had  a  wish  granted  by  Christ,  bewitched  the  Devil  and 
placed  Lucifer,  the  chief  of  devils,  on  his  anvil,  which 
frightened  him  so  much  that  the  smith,  when  he  died, 
was  not  admitted  to  hell.t  And  there  is  a  humorous  Ger- 
man folk-song  of  a  tailor,  which  begins : 

*Preusker,  Blicke  in  div  I'utcrlandischc  Vorzeit,  I,,  p,  182. 
\  Mentioned  in  Grimm's  Mdrchcn. 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE. 


155 


A  tailor  went  to  wander, 

On  Monday,  in  tin-  morn. 
And  there  he  met  the  Devil, 

His  clothes  and  shoes  all  torn. 
Hey,  tailor,  follow  me  ! 
In  hell  the  boys  need  thee  ; 

For  thou  must  clothe  the  devils 
Whatever  the  cost  may  be. 

The  tailor,  on   arriving  in  hell,  maltreated  all  the 
devils  with  his  tailor  utensils  in  the  attempt  at  dres.sing 


St.  Dunstan  and  the  Devil.     (Reproduced  from  Scheible.) 

them,  and  they  swore  that  they  would  never  again  allow 
a  tailor  to  come  near  them,  even  though  he  might  have 
stolen  ever  so  much  cloth.''' 

Another  comical  story  is  told  of  Dunstan,  abbot  of 
Glaston,  later  archbishop  of  Canterburj'.     While  busily 

*  Translated  by  tha  author.     The  song  may  be  found  in  various  collections  of 
German  folksongs.     Its  first  verse  runs  : 

"  Es  woUt  ein  Schneider  wandern,  "He,  he,  du  Schneidergesoll, 

Des  Montags  in  der  Fruh.  Du  musst  mit  mir  zur  Holl, 

Begegnet  ihm  der  Teufel.  Du  sollst  die  Teufel  kleiden. 

Hat  weder  Kleider  noch  Schuh  lis  koste  was  es  woll." 


256  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

engaged  in  the  fabrication  of  a  Eucharist  cup,  the  Devil 
suddenly  appeared  to  him.  But  the  saint  was  not  afraid ; 
he  took  the  pincers  out  of  the  fire  and  seized  the  nose  of 
Satan,  who  ran  off  with  a  howl  and  never  again  dared  to 
molest  him.  The  event  is  commemorated  in  an  old 
rhyme,  thus : 

"  St.  Dunstan,  as  the  story  goes, 
Once  pulled  the  Devil  by  the  nose 
With  red-hot  tongs,  which  made  him  roar 
That  he  was  heard  three  miles  or  more." 

An  act  of  bravery  is  told  of  St.  Cuthbert.  Sir  Guy 
Le  Scoope  (as  Thomas  Ingoldsby  tells  us,  closely  follow- 
ing the  chronicle  of  Bolton)  expected  company,  but  find- 
ing at  the  appointed  hour  the  banquet  hall  empty,  because 
the  guests  had  been  kept  away  through  a  bad  joke  of  the 
inviting  messenger,  he  called  on  the  Devil  and  ten  thou- 
sand fiends  to  eat  the  dinner  and  take  all  that  was  there 
with  them  to  the  infernal  regions.  The  Devil  came  with 
his  devilish  company  and  all  the  folk  of  Sir  Guy  fled,  leav- 
ing the  little  heir  behind,  who  was  at  once  seized  by  Black 
Jim,  the  leader  of  the  fiendish  company.  In  his  anxiety 
Sir  Guy  cried  to  St.  Cuthbert  of  Bolton,  who  actually 
made  his  appearance  in  the  shape  of  an  old  palmer  and 
forced  the  demoniac  crowd  to  surrender  the  child,  but  he 
generously  allowed  them  to  remain  as  the  guests  of  Sir 
Guy,  adding: 

"  'But  be  moderate,  pray, — and  remember  thus  much, 
Since  you're  treated  as  Gentlemen,  shew  yourselves  such, 

And  don't  make  it  late,     But  mind  and  go  straight 
Home  to  bed  when  you've  finished — and  don't  steal  the  plate  .' 
Nor  wrench  cff  the  knocker — or  bell  from  the  gate. 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE. 


257 


Walk  away,  like  respectable  Devils,  in  peace, 

And  don't  "  lark  "  with  the  watch  or  annoy  the  police  ! ' 

Having  thus  said  his  say,     That  Palmer  grey 
Took  up  little  Le  Scoope  and  walk'd  coolly  away. 
While  the  Demons  all  set  up  a  '  Hip  !  hip  !  hurray  ! ' 


0W  \;M:^' '  ■^|-''^i^il^f  5^ 


The  Legend  of  St.  Cuthbert.     (From  the  Ingoldsby  Legends.) 

Then  fell  tooth  and  claw  on  the  victuals,  as  they 
Had  been  guests  at  Guildhall  upon  Lord  Mayor's  day, 
All  scrambling  and  scuffling  for  what  was  before  'em. 
No  care  for  precedence  or  common  decorum." 

Still    another    stor3-    of    saintl3'    courage    is    told    of 
St.  Medard,  who  while  once  promenading  on  the  shore  of 


258 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  Red  Sea  in  Egypt,  saw  Old  Nick  carrying  in  a  bag  a 
number  of  lost  sinners.  The  saint  took  compassion  on 
the  poor  souls  and  slit  Satan's  bag  open,  whereupon  Old 
•Nick's  prisoners  escaped. 


^^  ->^^"^^ 


The  Legend  of  St.  Medard.     (From  the  /n^'oldsby  Lc^rends  ) 

"  Away  went  the  Quaker, — away  went  the  Baker, 
Away  went  the  Friar — that  fine  fat  Ghost, 

Whose  marrow  Old  Nick     Had  intended  to  pick, 
Dressed  like  a  Woodcock,  and  served  on  toast  ! 

"  Away  went  the  nice  littk-  Cardinal's  Niece, 

And  the  pretty  Grisettes,  and  the  Dons  from  Spain, 

And  the  Corsair's  crew.      And  the  coin-clippinf:;  Jew, 
And  they  scamper'd,  like  lamplighters,  over  the  plain  ! 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.      259 

"  Old  Nick  is  a  black-looking  fellow  at  best, 
Ay,  e'en  when  he's  pleased  ;  but  never  before 

Had  he  looked  so  black     As  on  seeing  his  sack 
Thus  cut  into  slits  on  the  Red  Sea  shore." 

Old  Nick  took  up  a  stone  and  threw  it  at  the  saint. 

"  But  Saint  Medard     Was  remarkably  hard 
And  solid  about  the  parietal  bone." 

The  stone  recoiled. 

"  And  it  curl'd,  and  it  twirl'd,  and  it  whirl'd  in  the  air, 
As  this  great  big  stone  at  a  tangent  flew  ! 

Just  missing  his  crown,      It  at  last  came  down 
Plump  upon  Nick's  Orthopedical  shoe  ! 

"  It  smashed  his  shin,  and  it  smash'd  his  hoof, 
Notwithstanding  his  stout  Orthopedical  shoe  ; 

And  this  is  the  way     That,  from  that  same  day, 
Old  Nick  became  what  the  French  call  Boilcux  !" 

One  of  the  oldest  triumphs  of  human  skill  in  bridge- 
building  gave  rise  to  the  M'drchen  of  the  Devil's  Bridge 
which  boldly  overspans  the  yawning  gorge  of  the  Reuss 
where  the  mountain  road  passes  up  to  the  furca  of  the  St. 
Gotthard.  A  new  bridge  has  been  l)uilt  by  engineers  of 
the  nineteenth  century  right  above  the  old  one ;  but  the 
old  one  remained  for  a  long  time  in  its  place,  until  it 
broke  down  in  recent  years.  The  legend  goes  that  a 
shepherd-lad  engaged  the  Devil  to  build  the  bridge  on  the 
condition  that  the  soul  of  the  first  living  creature  that 
crossed  it  should  be  forfeited.  When  the  work  M-as  fin- 
ished the  lad  drove  a  chamois  over  the  bridge,  which, 
seeing  that  he  was  cheated  out  of  the  price  he  had  ex- 
pected, the  Devil  wrathfully  lore  into  pieces.* 

*  Grimm.  Deutsche  Sageti,  336.  and   Tobler,  Afpenzellcy  Sprachschatz,  214. 


260 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


All  these  stories  are  Christianised  pagan  notions  of 
evil  conquered  either  through  cleverness  and  wit  or  by 
divine  assistance ;  and  even  the  church  doctrines  of  sin 


s^- 


The  Devil's  Bridge  Over  the  Reuss. 


and  salvation  are  based  upon  pre-Christian  conceptions 
ultimately  dating  back  to  human  sacrifices  and  the  mys- 
tic rites  of  cannibalism  in  wliich  man  hoped  to  partake  of 


DEMONOLOGY  OF  NORTHERN  EUROPE.       261 

divinit}'  and  immorlalit^'  by  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking 
the  blood  of  his  incarnated  God  or  his  representative. 

The  Christian  scheme  of  salvation  may  be  briefly 
called  the  vicarious  atonement  of  man's  sin  through  the 
blood  of  Christ.  God's  wrath  upon  the  guilty  human 
race  is  purified  through  the  sufferings  and  death  of  tlie 
innocent  god-man.  Divine  Justice  is  satisfied  by  the  sac- 
rifice of  Divine  Love. 

The  mystery  of  this  doctrine  and  also  of  the  doctrine 
of  original  sin,  which  in  its  literal  sense  can  hardly  be 
regarded  as  commendable,  has  a  deep  sense  which  appears 
when  we  consider  the  organic  unity  of  the  human  race. 
We  not  onl^'  inherit  the  evil  consequences  of  our  ances- 
tors' evil  deeds,  but  we  actually  consist  of  their  evil  dis- 
positions themselves.  Thus  the  sin  of  our  fathers  is  our 
curse  because  it  is  our  own,  and,  in  the  same  way,  the 
merit  of  our  brothers  becomes,  or  may  become,  our  own 
blessing.  We  can  easily  share  in  the  benefit  that  will  ac- 
crue from  inventions  or  other  advances  made  by  one  man 
if  we  are  only  willing  to  accept  the  lesson  which  his  ex- 
ample teaches. 

The  idea  of  a  salvation  through  vicarious  atonement 
has  grown  dimmer  of  late.  The  old  interpretation  re- 
minding us  of  the  bloody  sacrifices  of  savages  is  begin- 
ning to  wane,  although  it  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
entirely  abandoned ;  it  is  not  surrendered  but  merely 
transformed,  and  may  now  be  called  the  idea  of  salvation 
through  sacrifice. 


THE  DEVIL'S  PRIME. 


A 


Miracles  and  Magic. 

LATIN  proverb  says:    "5/  duo  faciniit  idem.,  non 
est  idem  "  (if  two  do  the  same  thing,  it  is  not  the 


Modern  Snake  Charmers. 
(Reproduced  from  Brehm.) 


same  ihins^)  ;   and  this  is  true  not  only  of  individuals,  but 
also  of  nations  and  of  religions.     It  is  a  habit  common 


THE  devil's  prime. 


263 


among  all  classes  of  people  to  condone  the  faults  of  their 
own  kind  but  to  be  severe  with  those  of  others.  The  or- 
acles of  Delphi  were  divine  to  a  Greek  mind,  but  they 
were  of  diabolical  origin  according  to  the  judgment  of 
Christians.  Jesus  was  a  magician  in  the  eyes  of  the  pa- 
gans, while  the  Christians  worshipped  him  as  the  son  of 
God,  and  a  man  who  performed  miracles. 


Moses  and  Aaron  Performing  the  Sn/vke  Miracle  Before  Pharaoh. 
(After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld.) 

The  priests  of  Pharaoh  and  Moses  perform  the  same 
tricks  still  performed  by  the  snake  charmers  of  Eg^^pt 
and  India,  but  the  deeds  of  Moses  alone  are  regarded  as 
miracles,  and  the  Israelites  claim  that  he  could  accom- 
plish more  than  the  Egj'ptians.  Father  Juan  Bautista 
(of  about  1600)  tells  us  that  among  the  natives  of  Mexico 


264 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


there  are  magicians  who  "conjure  the  clouds,  and  can 
make  a  stick  look  like  a  serpent,  a  mat  like  a  centipede, 
a  stone  like  a  scorpion,  and  similar  deceptions."* 

Simon  Magus  and  his  disciples  were  believed  by  the 
early  Christians  to  possess  power  over  demons  ;t  but 
Simon  was  a  competitor  of  the  Apostles,  and  therefore  his 
deeds  were  not  regarded  as  divine.  Before  an  impartial 
tribunal  the  methods  and  aspirations  of  both  parties  would 


The  Egyptian  Snake  Naja  Haje  maue  Motionless  by  Pressure  on  the  Neck.^ 
(Reproduced  from  Verworn  after  photographs.) 

resemble  one  another  more  than  the  one-sided  statements 
of  Christian  authors  at  first  sight  seem  to  warrant.  The 
accusation  made  against  Simon  b.y  Luke,  of  having 
offered  money  to  the  Apostles  for  communicating  to  him 
the  Holy  Ghost,  does  not  prove  a  depravity  of  heart,  as 
the  later  Christians  thought ;   for  Simon  took  the  rebuke 

*Cf.  J'our/einlli  Atnnial  Kef'orl  of  the  B.  of  Ktli.,  i8g2-i8()3,  p.   150. 
\h'en.  adf.  hat'r.^  I.,  20-2 r  ;  Justin  Ma7'tyy.,  App,  II  ,  pp.  69-70;   E-piphan. 
ad.  hair.,  XXII.,  i  ;  Euseb.,  //.  E.,  II.,  p.  13. 

JThe  snake  resembles  a  stick  ;  still  it  is  not  stiff  but  flaccid  and  pliant. 


THE  devil's  prime.  265 

in  tlie  proper  spirit  and  apparently  remained  on  gocd 
terms  witli  the  Apostles.  The  reports  of  the  church 
fathers  which  make  Peter  and  Simon  rivals  in  working 
miracles,  develop  the  story  in  the  spirit  of  the  age ;  they 
characterise  the  superstitions  of  the  time;  yet,  although 
they  probably  reflect  historical  facts,  they  are  as  unreli- 
able as  are  the  charges  of  pagan  authors  hurled  against 
the  Christians. 

The  early  Christians  practised  healing  the  sick  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands  and  by  praying ;  so  did  the  Thera- 
peutse  and  other  Gnostics ;  yet  faithcure  and  Christian 
science  are  not  countenanced  by  the  churches  to-day. 

Minucius  Felix*  puts  the  common  notions,  which  in 
his  days  prevailed  in  Greece  and  Italy  concerning  the 
practices  of  the  Christians,  into  the  mouth  of  Caecilius 
who  describes  them  as  a  desperate  class  of  vulgar  men 
and  credulous  women  threatening  the  welfare  of  mankind. 
He  states  that  they  are  atheists,  for  they  cherish  a  con- 
tempt for  temples,  spit  at  the  gods,  and  ridicule  religious 
ceremonies ;  that  their  own  cult  is  a  mixture  of  supersti- 
tion and  depravity ;  that  the}-  possess  secret  symbols  by 
which  they  recognise  one  another ;  they  call  themselves 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  degrade  these  sacred  words  by 
sensuality.  Further,  it  is  said  that  they  adore  a  don- 
key's head,  and  that  their  worship  is  obscene.  The  libel 
culminates  in  the  assertion  that  the  reception  of  new 
members  is  celebrated  by  slaughtering  and  devouring  a 
child  covered  all  over  with  flour,  which  is  an  obvious  per- 
version of  the  Communion,  but  Caecilius  declares  that  it 

*  Oclavius,  ein  Dialog  des  M.  .Minucius  Felix.    Edited  by  B.  Dombart.    Sec- 
ond edition.     Eriangen,  1881.     Ante  Nicene  Chr.  Libr.,  Vol.  XIII.,  p,  451  ff. 


266  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

is  done  because  partnership  in  guilt  is  the  best  means  of 
securing  secrecy.  Lastly,  he  adds,  that  on  festival  days 
they  celebrate  love  feasts  which  after  the  extinction  of  the 
lights  end  with  sexual  excesses. 

Similar  accusations  are  found  in  various  authors,  and 
even  the  noble-hearted  and  high-minded  Tacitus  speaks 
of  the  Christians  with  contempt ;  while  on  the  other  hand 
the  Christians  do  not  shrink  from  ridiculing  the  holiest 
and  noblest  of  paganism.  For  instance,  Minucius  Felix, 
a  Christian  of  the  highest  type  and  best  education,  speaks 
of  Socrates  as  "the  Athenian  buffoon."* 

Justinus  Martyr  in  his  Apologia  makes  the  assevera- 
tion that  the  Christians  are  innocent,  but  leaves  the  ques- 
tion open  whether  the  heretics,  such  as  the  Gnostics, 
might  not  be  guilty  of  these  abominations  (App.  II.,  p. 
70) ,  and  Eusebius  directly  claims  that  the  practices  that 
prevailed  among  the  heretics  were  the  direct  cause  of  the 
evil  rumors  concerning  the  life  of  the  Christians. 

While  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  moral  rigiditj' 
of  the  Gnostics  leaves  upon  the  whole  no  doubt  about  the 
purity  of  their  life,  we  may  grant  the  probability  of  the 
presence  of  black  sheep  among  them.  But  the  same  is 
true  of  the  Christians,  as  we  know  for  certain  on  the  good 
authoritj'  of  St.  Paul  who  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Co- 
rinthians, after  an  enumeration  of  such  sinners  as  will 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  (v.  8-11, — the  passage  had  better 
remain  unquoted)  says,  "and  such  were  some  of  you." 
Accordingly,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  were 
abuses  in  the  Church  of  Corinth.  St.  Paul  believes  the 
rumor  of  a  sin,  "that  is  not  so  much  as  named  among 

*  Octavius,  Chap,  38.      "  Socrates  scurra  Atticus." 


THE  DKvn.'s  PRIME. 


267 


the  Gentiles,"  and  the  Second  Epistle  is  the  best  evi- 
dence that  the  Corinthians  did  not  deny  the  facts.  They 
repent,  whereuijon  St.  Panl  recommends  charity  toward 
the  main  offender  (2  Cor.  ii.  6-11),  saying:  "To  whom 
ye  forgive  anything,  I  forgive  also." 

The  vai"ions  aberrations  among  the  Christians  which 


A  Successful  Rain-Maker  Slaying  His  Rivals.     (See  pp.  26S-269.) 
(Elijah  and  Baal  priests.     After  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld.) 

were  very  apparent  in  many  of  their  most  prominent 
leaders,  such  as  Constantine  the  Great,  must  not  astonish 
us,  because  Christianity  originated  in  an  age  of  unrest, 
and  the  new  movement  was  the  centre  of  attraction  for  all 
kinds  of  eccentricity.  In  spite  of  various  excrescences, 
we  cannot  but  say  that  Christianity  opened  to  the  world 


268 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


new  vistas  of  truth.  Represented  by  such  men  as  St. 
Paul,  it  tended  toward  purity  of  heart ;  but  the  same  is 
true  of  the  Gnostics  and  the  IManichees.  The  accusations 
on  both  sides  rest  mainly  upon  partisan  statements  and 
cannot  be  trusted,  or  at  least  mi:st  be  used  with  due  re- 
serve. But  it  is  natural  that  here  as  alwa3's,  the  same 
things  are  no  longer  the  same  when  reported  of  people  of 

another  faith.  Thus  the 
virtues  of  the  pagans  are 
to  St.  Augustine  only 
"polished  vices,"  and 
the  heroism  of  Christian 
martyrs  is  mere  obsti- 
nacy' in  the  opinion  of 
Roman  praetors. 

W'e  look  with  con- 
tempt upon  the  Indian 
prophet  who  poses  as  a 
rain-maker,  but  read  the 
story  of  Elijah  with  great 
edification,  and  while  we 
justif3'  the  holy  zeal  of  the 
latter,  we  would  make  no 
allowance  for  the  severit3'  of  Indian  reformers  who  fail 
to  spare  the  lives  of  their  rivals.  One  instance  will  suf- 
fice :  Tenskwatawa,  the  Shawano  prophet,  preached  in  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  centurj^  a  nobler  religion  and 
a  purer  morality  to  the  tribes  of  the  prairie,  and  was 
revered  bv  his  followers  as  an  incarnation  of  ]\Ianabozho 


Tenskwatawa,  the  Shawano  Prophet   in 
1808.* 


*  Reproduced  from   the  Fourtifnih  Antiiial  h'l-porl  of  Ike  Bureau  of  l:thnol- 
offy.  P-  670. 


THE  devil's  prime. 


269 


(i.  e.,  first  doer).  Drunkenness,  the  besetting  sin  of  the 
Indians  since  their  acquaintance  with  the  whites,  and 
the  traditional  superstition  practised  by  the  medicine- 
men ceased.  But  reform  was  coupled  with  persecution. 
Tenskwatawa  "inaugurated  a  crusade  against  all  who 
were  suspected  of  dealing  in  witchcraft  or  magic  arts," 
and  he  took  advantage  of  the  faith  of  his  followers  "to 
effectually  rid  himself  of 
all  who  opposed  his  sa- 
cred claims."  All  his 
rivals  were  successively 
marked  by  the  prophet, 
and  doomed  to  be  burned 
alive.* 

All  these  facts  are 
so  many  instances  which 
prove  the  truth  of  the 
proverb,  that  if  two  do 
the  same  thing  it  will 
not  be  regarded  as  the 
same  thing:  and  thus 
the  miracle  of  our  own 
religion  is  mere  magic 
and  witchcraft  in  other  religions. 


Tenskwatawa,  the  Shawano  Prophet   in 
i83i.f 


■  One  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  pre- 
scientific  age  is  man's  yearning  for  the  realisation  of  that 
which  is  unattainable  b}'  natural  means.     The  belief  in 

*  For  details  see  the  Fourteenth  Annual  Refort  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethyiology , 
Part  2,  p.  673  ff.,  and  Drake,   Tecumseh,  2. 

f  Reproduced  from  ihe  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Biireau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy.  P-  670. 


270  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

magic  will  inevitably  prevail  so  long  as  the  dualistic 
world-conception  dominates  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
in  that  period  of  civilisation  supernatural  deeds  are  ex- 
pected as  the  indispensable  credentials  of  all  religious 
prophets.     It  is  the  age  of  miracles  and  witchcraft. 

Now  we  know  that  wherever  contra-natural  things  are 
believed,  there  the  strangest  events  w^l  be  experienced 
bj'  those  who  are  under  the  suggestion  of  the  belief ;  and 
then  at  once  a  competition  will  originate  between  those 
who  represent  the  established  religion  and  others  who 
perform,  or  pretend  to  perform,  similar  deeds.  The  for- 
mer are  prophets  and  saints,  and  they  work  miracles; 
the  latter  are  wizards  and  witches,  and  their  art  is  called 
witchcraft. 

Miracles  and  witchcraft  possess  this  in  common  that 
both  are  supposed  to  supersede  the  laws  of  nature,  but 
there  is  this  difference  that  the  miracle  is  believed  to  be 
the  supernatural  power  of  one's  own  religion,  while 
witchcraft  is  the  miracle  of  heretics.  Miracle  is  anything 
contra-natural  that  is  legitimate ;  and  witchcraft  is  the 
same  thing,  but  illegitimate ;  the  former  is  supposed  to 
be  done  with  the  help  of  God,  the  latter  with  the  help  of 
Satan ;  the  former  is  boasted  of  as  the  highest  glory  of 
the  Church,  the  latter  is  denounced  as  the  greatest  abom- 
ination possible. 

It  is  natural  that  wizards  and  witches  are  always  rep- 
resented as  obnoxious,  and  it  is  said  that  their  art  is  prac- 
tised to  injure  the  welfare  of  mankind.  Nevertheless, 
some  very  mean  deeds  are  counted  as  miracles,*  while 

*  There  are  miracles  attributed  in  the  Christian  Apocrypha  even  to  Jesus  him- 
self, which  would  be  criminal. 


or 


s 

a 
o 
Z 


272  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

good  deeds  if  only  performed  by  believers  in  other  gods 
are  branded  as  witchcraft.  Moreover,  all  priests  are 
unanimous  in  condemning  the  application  of  charms  and 
spells,  except  those  of  their  own  religion,  even  though 
they  be  used  for  the  best  and  purest  ends.  A  faith-cure 
by  heretics,  and  even  a  successful  operation  through  the 
unusual  skill  of  a  surgeon,  would  be  set  down  as  deeds  of 
darkness  by  those  who  believe  in  a  religion  of  miracles,"^ 
but  official  processions  with  prayers  and  sprinkling  of 
holy  water  are  still  employed,  as  could  be  observed  dur- 
ing a  late  small-pox  epidemic  in  French  Canada. 

The  belief  in  magic  is  a  natural  phase  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  mankind,  producing  the  medicine-man  who  dis- 
pels diseases  by  charms,  the  prophet  who  by  an  appeal  to 
his  Deity  (be  it  the  sun-god  of  the  American  Indians,  or 
the  Baal  of  the  Phoenicians,  or  El  or  Yahveh  of  the  Is- 
raelites) undertakes  to  make  rain,  and  the  medium  who 
vaticinates  or  foretells  fortunes  and  calls  the  dead  from 
Spirit-Land.. 

The  rain-priests  play  a  most  important  part  in  the 
life  of  all  the  American  Indians.  The  snake-dance  among 
the  Pueblo  Indians  of  Mexico  is  a  prayer  for  rain.f  Fre- 
quently the  sun  is  invoked  for  rain.  Dreams,  visions, 
and  ecstasies  are  regarded  as  the  best  means  of  divine 
revelation,  and  the  medicine-bag  possesses  magic  pow- 
ers.    The  devotional  spirit  is  not  less  intense  among  the 

*In  1521,  a  surgeon  of  Hamburg  was  executed  for  witchcraft  because  he  had 
saved  the  life  of  a  babe  which  the  midwife  had  given  up  as  lost.  (See  Soldan, 
//exenprocesse,  p.  326  ) 

f  See.  e.  g.,  Fourtcentli  Anuiial  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1892- 
1893,  p.  561. 


274 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


pagans  of  the  prairie  than  it  was  among  the  ancient  Is- 
raelites and  the  early  Christians.''' 

All  attempt  to  practise  magic,  and  a  religion  that 
promises  success  in  life  and  proposes  to  accomplish  the 
salvation  of  man  by  miracles,  be  it  the  miracles  of  their 
founders  or  the  continued  miracles  of  Church  institutions, 
such  as  sacraments,  pilgrimages,  sprinkling  of  holy  water, 

mass-reading,  or  other 
rites  supposed  to  pos- 
sess other  than  a  pure- 
ly symbolical  signifi- 
cance, is  a  religion  of 
magic.  In  brief,  a  reli- 
gion of  magic  is  based 
on  a  belief  in  the  con- 
tra-natural, and  as  soon 
as  a  religion  of  magic 
becomes  an  established 
institution,  it  ^nll  de- 
velop the  notion  of 
witchcraft  by  a  dis- 
crimination between  its 
HenricusCorneliusagrippaab  nettesheim.     own  miracles  and  those 

(Reproduced  from  the  original  edition  of  his      Qf  other  people  who  are 
works) 

unbelievers. 
How  similar  the  notions  of  legitimate  and   illegiti- 
mate miracles  are,  may  be  learned  from  the  writings  of 

♦Notice,  for  instance,  the  deeply  religious  spirit  of  the  ghost  dance  taught  the 
North  American  Indian  by  the  prophet  Wovoka.  The  devotion  of  Wovoka's  fol- 
lowers is  well  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  illustrations  of  some  characteristic 
attitudes  in  the  ghost  dance.  Cf.  Ainiiuil  K,f<ort  of  the  .tmeiiiaii  Burciiii  of 
Ethnolofry,   1892-1893. 


THE  devil's  prime.  275 

Agrippa  of  Netteslieim  (1486-1535) ,  one  of  the  greatest 
sages  and  philosophers  of  the  age  of  the  Reformation, 
who  proclaimed  that  the  perfection  of  philosophy  could 
be  attained  by  magic,  which  in  distinction  to  black  magic* 
he  called  "natural"  or  "celestial"  magic,  and  which,  he 
assumed,  leads  to  a  perfect  union  with  God.  His  book, 
De  Occulta  Philosophia^  written  in  1510  but  published 
only  in  1531,  exhibits  his  belief  in  the  possibility  of 
creating  hatred  and  love  b}^  spells,  of  discovering  thieves, 
confounding  armies,  making  thunderstorms  and  rain,  all 
of  which  he  expects  to  accomplish  by  magic  through  a 
mystical  union  with  God.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  under- 
stand how  a  man  of  his  caliber  could  believe  in  the  efficacy 
of  spells  and  mystic  keys ;  but  grant  the  reality  of  magic, 
and  such  aberrations  become  legitimate  experiments. 
Witches  have  been  frequently  accused  of  the  very  same 
feats,  only  they  were  said  to  have  performed  them  through 
the  assistance  of  the  Devil.  In  spite  of  the  resemblance 
which  Agrippa  unconsciously  had  discovered  between 
witchcraft  and  miracles,  he  remained  unmolested,  for  his 
views  were  at  the  time  commonly  accepted.  Nor  would 
he  ever  have  excited  the  hostility  of  the  Papal  party  had 
he  not  lectured  with  fervor,  at  the  University  of  Dole, 
Burgundy  (1509) ,  on  Reuchlin's  book,  De  Verbo  Miri- 
fico,  and  had  he  not,  in  1519,  when  syndic  at  Metz,  ven- 
tured to  save  the  life  of  a  witch  that  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  Inquisitor  Nicolas  Savini.f 

What  a  strange  mixture  of  occultism  with  exact  ob- 

*The  idea  and  name  o£  black  magic  originated  from  a  corruption  o£  the  word 
necromancy  into  nigromancy. 

\  De  Vanitate  Scientiarum,  Chap.  96;  Epist.  libr..  II.,  pp.  38-40,  quoted  by 
Soldan,  Hexenprocesse,  p.  325. 


276 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


servation,  based  upon  anatomical  measurements,  is  con- 
tained in  the  chapter  on  "  The  Proportions  of  the  Human 
Body."  Ivlatheniatics,  natural  science,  and  mysticism 
are  all  combined  in  Agrippa's  Occulta  Philosophia^  and 
the  learned  author  is  unable  to  discriminate  between  facts 
and  fancy.* 


Agrippa's  celestial  magic  is  not  different  from  black 
magic ;  for  both  kinds  of  magic  consist  in  the  hope  of 
contra-natural  accomplishments.  When  after  years  of 
varied    disappointments    Agrippa   discovered    that    there 


*  The  accompanying  illustrations  are  reproduced  from  the  original  edition  o£ 
Occulta  Philosophia.  Chap.  XXVII. 


THE  DEVIL'.S  prime. 


m 


was  no  magic,  be  it  black  or  white,  he  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  there  was  no  science.  As  the  agnostic  who, 
after  having  wrongly  formulated  the  problems  of  philoso- 
phy, and  finding  his  mind  hopelessly  entangled  in  confu- 
sion, pronounces  the  dreary  doctrine  of  the  impossibility 
of  knowledge,  so  Agrippa  of  Nettesheim  began  to  despair 


not  only  of  magic,  but  also  of  science;  and  he  wrote,  in 
1526,  his  "Proposition  about  the  Incertitude  and  Vanity 
of  the  Sciences  and  Arts  ;  and  about  the  excellence  of  the 
word  of  God."  * 

*  De  lyicertitudine  ft    I'atiitate   Scienliarum   et   Arti'um,    atque  Excellentia 
Verbi  Dei  Declamatio.     Published  in  1530. 


278 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


All  in  all,  we  find  that  a  religion  of  magic  involves  a 
belief  in  witchcraft.  Where  sacraments  are  employed  as 
exorcisms,  every  attempt  at  exercising  extraordinary 
powers  is  regarded  not  as  impossible  but  as  a  lack  of  loy- 
alty. Hence  heresy  and  witchcraft  are  always  declared 
to  be  closely  allied,  for  witchcraft  is  nothing  but  the  per- 
formance of  miracles  without  the  licence  of  an  established 
Church,  which  claims  to  have  a  monopoly  in  supernat- 
uralism. 


Exorcising  by  the  Cross* 
(Bas-relief  on  a  water  vessel  of  the  seventh  century  found  near  Pisama.) 

The  belief  in  and  the  prosecution  of  witchcraft  are 
the  necessary  result  of  a  firmly  established  religion  of 
magic.  All  the  religions  of  ijiagic  ai'e  naturally  intol- 
erant. As  soon  as  one  of  them  triumphs  over  its  rivals, 
as  soon  as  it  is  worked  t)nt  into  a  systematic  creed  and 
organised  in  an   institution   such  as  the  Church,  it  will. 


*  Pa  c  hind  I  De  Christianoriun  bahifi's,  pp.  136  ff.  and  i-n  fl.  The  Rev. 
Samuel  Cheetham  says  in  Smith-Cheetham  Dictionary  of  Christiajt  Antiquities, 
p.  652 :  "The  contortions  of  the  person  on  the  ground  seem  to  show  that  it  was  an 
exorcism  of  one  possessed.  Now,  if  the  vessel  was  a  font  for  holding  the  baptismal 
water,  it  would  seem  more  appropriate  to  represent  upon  it  the  ordinary  pre-bap- 
tismal  exorcism.  It  seems  therefore  more  probable  that  it  was  intended  for  the 
Atrium  of  a  church,  where  it  mif,'ht  be  used  to  contain  holy  water." 


THE  devil's  prime.  279 

like  all  combinations  or  trusts,  with  all  means  at  its  com- 
mand, insure  and  perpetuate  its  supremacy.  Considering 
that  the  mediaeval  Church  was  practically  a  religion  of 
magic,  witch  prosecution  was  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
Pope's  ascendancy,  and  it  continued  in  Protestant  coun- 
tries as  an  heirloom  of  the  Dark  Ages  so  long  as  the  be- 
lief in  magic  was  retained. 

Exorcism. 

The  belief  in  Satan  as  held  by  many  Christians  to- 
day is  harmless  and  tame  in  comparison  with  the  old 
conception,  which  was  taken  seriously.  Satan,  it  is  true, 
was  regarded  as  the  foe  of  mankind,  but  there  was  no 
doubt  about  his  power,  and  the  idea  prevailed  that  his 
services  could  easily  be  procured  by  those  ready  to  sur- 
render to  him  their  souls. 

As  soon  as  the  Church  became  possessed  of  power,  it 
was  at  once  bent  on  the  suppression  of  magic  and  witch- 
craft. Constantine  began  the  policy  of  threatening  the 
severest  punishment  on  all  kinds  of  black  art,  allowing 
its  application  onl3^  for  curing  diseases  and  pi'eventing 
hail  and  rain  storms  during  the  harvest.  And  Constan- 
tine's  successors  did  not  fail  to  preserve  the  tradition. 

A  prohibition  to  fish  implies  that  there  is  good  fish- 
ing, which  tempts  many  to  try.  In  the  same  wa}',  the 
policy  of  the  Christian  authorities  was  tantamount  to  an 
ofl&cial  recognition  of  witchcraft  as  a  mighty  and  power- 
ful weapon  that  could  be  wielded  by  the  initiated  both 
for  good  and  for  evil ;  and  thus  it  could  not  fail  to 
strengthen  the  Devil's  credit,  as  well  as  to  develop  most 


280  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

exuberantly  a  peculiar  mediaeval  demonology.  Belief  in 
witchcraft  rapidly  became  so  common  that  almost  all 
countries  were  in  possession  of  laws  against  magicians, 
sootbsayers,  and  witches.  One  remarkable  exception 
only  is  found  in  the  law-code  of  the  Lombards,  which 
contains  the  declaration  that  witches  cannot  perform  any 
such  feats  as  devouring  people  alive,  and  therefore  the 
burning  of  a  w^oman  on  the  pretext  of  her  being  a  witch 
is  prohibited. 

There  is  a  remarkable  Latin  book  of  ' '  Dialogues  on 
the  Life  and  Miracles  of  the  Italian  Fathers,"*  which 
characterises  the  superstitious  spirit  that  prevailed  among 
both  the  laity  and  the  clergy.  It  is  replete  with  all  kinds 
of  ridiculous  tales  which  are  taken  in  good  earnest.  We 
are  told,  for  instance,  that  Gregory  the  Great,  when  con- 
secrating an  Arian  church  for  Roman  Catholic  worship, 
successfully  exorcised  the  Devil  with  the  help  of  sacred 
relics ;  Satan  flew  before  him  in  the  shape  of  a  huge  pig 
and  vacated  the  place  completely  the  following  night 
with  great  noise. 

The  Devil  came  more  and  more  into  prominence  in 
the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries.  Baptism  was  regarded 
as  an  expulsion  of  the  evil  spirit.  The  convert  had,  ac- 
cording to  Dionysius,  to  exhale  three  times,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  Greek  euchologion,  also  to  spit  at  him  upon 
the  floor.  The  Sjmod  of  Leptinse  in  the  year  743  added 
to  the  confession  of  faith  an  ' '  abrenunciation ' '  of  the 
Devil. 

A  Low-German  ftwnmla  which  renounces  the  three 

*  De  Vila  cl  nihacidis  fair,    llalic.   libri,  IV      See  Roskoff,  Ceschichle  dcs 
Teufels,  p.  292. 


THE  devil's  prime.  281 

foremost  German  deities  with  all  their  hosts*  consists  of 
questions  and  answers,  which  read  as  follows : 

"  Q.   Forsakest  thou  the  Devil? 

"  A.    I  forsake  the  Devil  ! 

"  Q.   And  all  Devil  guilds? 

"A.   And  I  forsake  all  Devil  guilds. 

"  Q.    And  all  Devil  works? 

"A.  And  I  forsake  all  Devil  works,  and  words,  Thenar  (Thor) 
and  Wodan  and  Saxnot  (Fro)  and  all  the  evil  ones  that  are  his 
companions."! 


•Wj)«'n^w-6'3ec):<>jvj'acVio  uUim^'5iobol:;elaa*  61&ullij5wbo^^uu9^a^n1■    j 

■ftu^v  ^hv-ui  \nc|Mp  ^oa^jTuno  ec^^ttfto  inciup-jerti-pno-j-elobit- 
•  ju  <r>Vii.tlor»^  rurp-  ^relobo  l>4hulo  r^ui  C'^c^'  I 

k-^L.   .  ■^  .     _  _      ,. — I,.....,        .    .--iaj 


Text  of  the  Baptismal  Abjuration  Formula  in  Old  Low-German. 
(Reproduced  from  O    Henne  am  Rhyn  ) 

The  fact  is  that  Christianity  itself  was  regarded  as  a 
kind  of  magic  which  in  distinction  to  the  black  magic  or 
necromancy  would  have  to  be  classed  together  with  white 

*  Massmann,  "Die  deutschen  Abscliworungs-,  Glaubens-,  Beicht-  und  Bet- 
formeln."  Bibliographie  der  Geschichte  der  Nationallitt'ratiiv.  Vol,  VII.  Ros- 
ko£f,  GescJiichte  des  Teiifels,  p.  292  ;  Otto  Henne  am  Rhyn,  Kulturgeschichte  des 
deutschen    Volkes. 

\  The  original,  which  is  Old  Low-German,  reads  as  follows  ; 

Q.  "  Forsachistu  diabolae?"  A.  "  Ec  forsacho  diabolae  !  " — Q.  "End  allum 
diabol  gelde  ?  "  A.  "End  ec  forsacho  allum  diabol  gelde." — Q.  "End  allum  dia- 
boles  uuercum  ?  "  A.  "  End  ec  forsacho  allum  diaboles  uuercum,  end  uuordum, 
Thunaer,  ende  Uuoden,  ende  Saxnote,  ende  allem  dem  unholdum  the  hira  genotas 
sint." 


282  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

magic.  The  sacraments  were  supposed  to  be  miraculous 
methods  of  performing  supernatural  feats  quite  analogous 
to  exorcisms,  and  tlie  church  itself  was,  in  the  minds  of 
the  people,  an  institution  of  sacred  sorcery. 

Belief  in  Witchcraft. 

With  the  belief  in  witchcraft  a  new  period  begins  in 
the  evolution  of  mankind.  The  Devil  becomes  greater 
and  more  respected  than  ever;  indeed,  this  is  the  classi- 
cal period  of  his  history  and  the  prime  of  his  life.  Con- 
tracts were  made  with  the  Devil  in  which  men  surren- 
dered their  souls  for  all  kinds  of  services  on. his  part. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  Devil  reached  the  acme 
of  his  influence,  and  it  is  only  possible  to  give  a  meagre 
sketch  of  the  Devil's  activity  during  this  period.  Noth- 
ing extraordinary  could  happen  without  its  being  attrib- 
uted to  him,  and  to  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages  many 
things,  ordinary  to  us,  were  ver3?  extraordinary. 

Gervasius  Tilberiensis  composed  a  collection  of  stu- 
pid fables  which  he  published  in  1211  under  the  title 
Otia  hnperialiay  dedicating  them  to  Emperor  Otto  IV. 
He  repeats  some  spook  stories  of  Apuleius  as  events  that 
happened  in  France  and  England  and  invents  new  tales 
which  surpass  the  old  ones  only  in  crudity.  He  accepts 
the  medical  explanation  of  nightmares  as  due  to  an  over- 
heated imagination,  but  proves  even  then  the  presence  of 
demoniacal  influence,  on  the  authority  of  St.  Augustine. 

In    the  Dialogus  Miraculorum^''   by   Caesarius  von 

*  lilusirium  miraculoymn  el  histoiiarttm  me7iiorabi'/iitm  libri  XII,  anle  a/i- 

nos  fere    CCCC  a   Cc£sario  Hcisterbacensi,  ordinis  Ci'steytiicitsis Colon. 

1599.     A  new  edition  was  made  by  Josephus  Strange,  published  by  J.  M.  Heberle. 


THE  devil's  prime. 


283 


Heisterbach  (who  died  about  1245) ,  we  find  that  not  only 
thunder-storms,   hail-storms,   inundations,   diseases,   but 


c 


^gi.Xi'.t 


Yf 


5- 


y 


X    ; 


p-^CDucrficrc- 
tccDuuftone* 

ooetnplcur 


fitAttt  iifujifto's  fitos?crmco$  aut  ca 
ttcminraJ)c(K-vfiu5  cftCcntjentnmik 

m  rccopmfiit  at)  t0  m  faiiimm  eft- 


Specimen  Page  of  an  Illuminated  Initial  in  Heisterbach's  Diaiog-us 

Mif'aculortim  .* 
Illustrating  the  pious  spirit  of  this  most  nefarious  work.  Reproduced  from  Joseph 
Strange's  text   edition,  published   by  Heberle,  Cologne,  Bonn,  and   Brussels,  iS6i. 

also  unexpected  noises,  the  rnstling"  of  leaves,  the  howl- 
ing of  the  wind,  were  attributed  to  Old  Nick.   He  appears 

*The  original    is  fol.  7.a  column  i  of  Codex  rriiso  [D)  in  the  Royal  Library  at 
Dusseldorf. 


284  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

as  a  bear,  a  monkey,  a  toad,  a  raven,  a  vulture,  as  a  gen- 
tleman, a  soldier,  a  hunter,  a  peasant,  a  dragon,  and  a 
negro. 

Caesarius's  book  has  become  famous,  and  rightly  so, 
not  on  account  of  any  peculiar  merit  of  its  author  but 
because  it  is  a  true  picture  of  the  average  conception  of 
the  times.* 

The  book  is  written  mainly  for  the  instruction  of 
young  monks.  The  initials  of  the  original  editions  are 
emblazoned  with  pious  pictures,  and  the  tendency  of  all 
stories  is  that  there  is  no  surer  salvation  than  in  the 
brotherhood  of  the  Cistercian  monks,  the  order  to  which 
the  author  belongs.  He  declares  that  "there  is  no  safer 
road  than  the  order  of  the  Cistercians  ;  nor  do  fewer  peo- 
ple go  down  to  the  lower  regions  than  the  members  of 
that  religion. "t  Cassarius  makes  the  Lord  appear  as 
a  sovereign  who  regards  it  as  his  duty  to  protect  his 
faithful  servants  and  takes  an  interest  in  concealing  their 
crimes.  He  works  a  special  miracle,  lest  the  slander  of  a 
clergyman  become  public  (Book  I.,  p.  23).  The  Devil 
having  caused  a  man  to  sin  against  the  sixth  command- 
ment, is  unable  to  accuse  and  punish  the  sinner,  or  make 
his  guilt  known,  because  the  latter  escapes  all  evil  effects 
through  the  confessional  (Book  III.,  p.  4).  The  Devil 
once  went  to  a  confessor  and  confessed.  Having  enumer- 
ated his  sins,  the  confessor  declared  that  a  thousand  years 
would  not  have  sufficed  to  commit  them  all,  and  the  Devil 

*  For  a  brief  summary  see  Wolfgang  Menzel,  Deutsche  Lileraliirgesclih/ile, 
pp.  310-312.     See  also  Roskoff,  Geschichle  des  Tcitfels,  pp.  317-326. 

f  "  Non  est  via  securior  quam  ordo  Cisterniencis  neque  inter  omne  genus  ho- 
minum  pauciones  descendunt  ad  inferos  quam  personae  illius  religionis."  I.,  Chap. 
33- 


THE  devil's  prime. 


285 


answered  that  indeed  he  was  much  older  than  a  thousand 
years,  for  he  was  one  of  the  demons  who  fell  with  Lucifer. 
The  priest  considered  his  sins  unpardonable,  and  asked 
him  whether  he  wanted  to  do  penance.  "Yes,"  he  said, 
"  if  the  penance  is  not  too  heav}' for  me."  "Well,"  re- 
plied the  confessor,  "bow  down  thrice  a  day,  saying: 
'God,  my  Lord  and  Creator,  I  have  sinned  against  thee; 


Witches  Conjuring  a  Hail-Storm. 
(After  an  old  German  print.) 


The  Devil  of  Conceit  as  Seen  by  a 

Clergyman  on  the  Dress  of  a 

Fashionable  Lady. 


forgive  me.'"     "No,"  said  the  Devil,  "that  would  be 
too  humiliating  for  me"  (III.,  26,  and  IV.,  5) . 

Arrogance  and  self-conceit  are  the  main-springs  of 
Satan's  character.  A  curious  parallel  to  Peregrinus  is 
the  story  of  a  woman  who,  for  the  sake  of  clearing  her 
soul  of  sin,  burns  herself  to  death  (Book  VI.,  p.  35). 
Imps  are   seen  plaj'ing  with  cupids  upon  the  train  of  a 


286  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

gentlewoman  (Book  V.,  p.  7) .  A  man  gambles  with  the 
Devil  and  loses  his  soul  (V.,  34) . 

The  theory  of  incubi  and  succubi  is  presented  in  all 
its  indecency  on  the  authority  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
who  in  his  commentary  on  Job  (Chap.  40)  interprets  Be- 
hemoth (a  large  animal,  probably-  the  elephant)  as  the 
Devil,  and  derives  from  the  mention  of  the  animal's  sex- 
ual strength  (verse  16)  the  theory  that  evil  demons  can 
have  intercourse  with  human  beings.  Satan  is  supposed 
to  serve  first  as  a  succubus  (or  female  devil)  to  men,  and 
then  as  an  incubus  (or  male  devil)  to  women ;  and  St. 
Thomas  declares  that  children  begotten  in  this  way  ought 
to  be  regarded  as  the  children  of  the  men  whom  Satan 
served  as  succubus.  They  would,  however,  be  more  cun- 
ning than  normal  children  on  account  of  the  demoniacal 
influence  to  which  they  were  exposed  in  their  pre-natal 
condition.  Matthasus  Paris  mentions  that  within  six 
months  one  such  incubus-baby  developed  all  its  teeth  and 
attained  the  size  of  a  boy  of  seven  years,  while  his  mother 
became  consumptive  and  died. 

The  superstitions  of  the  belief  in  the  personal  inter- 
ference of  the  Devil  with  human  affairs  passed  away,  but 
they  left  us  an  extensive  and  interesting  literature  which 
for  all  time  to  come  will  remain  a  rich  mine  for  the  an- 
thropologist, the  antiquarian,  the  historian,  the  psychol- 
ogist, the  poet,  and  the  philosopher.  There  are  innumer- 
able miracles  and  tales  of  St.  IMarj',  the  mother  of  Jesus, 
but  few  of  them  are  endurable,  while  the  general  tone  of 
the  narration  is  unworthy  of  any  woman, — let  alone  the 
highest  woman -ideal  of  Christianity.  A  dog  has  been 
baptised  by  rascals,  and  he  turns  mad  (X.,  145) .     In  the 


THE  devil's  prime.  287 

hour  of  death,  pious  people  see  the  heavens  open,  while 
infidels  are  tortured  by  black  men,  ravens  and  vultures 
(XI.)  ;  and  for  the  edification  of  the  faithful  the  damned 
are  thrown  into  the  crater  of  a  volcano  (XII.). 

The  Abbot  Richalmus,  who  wrote  about  1270  a  book 
of  revelations  about  the  intrigues  and  persecutions  of  de- 
mons, recognises  the  Devil's  hand  in  every  little  incon- 
venience he  might  happen  to  experience.  It  is  devils 
that  make  him  feel  qualmish  when  he  has  eaten  too 
much;  they  make  him  fall  asleep  over  his  breviary. 
When  he  exposes  his  hand,  they  make  it  feel  chill}'; 
when  he  hides  it  under  his  cloak,  they  tickle  and  bite  it 
like  fleas.  "Once,  he  says,  "when  we  were  gathering 
stones  for  building  a  wall,  I  heard  a  devil  exclaim,  'What 
tiresome  work !  '  He  only  did  it  to  tempt  us  and  make 
us  rebellious."  There  is  no  noise  but  some  devil  speaks 
out  of  it.  "While  I  pull  my  sleeve,"  he  says,  "a  rust- 
ling is  heard,  and  devils  speak  through  this  sound.  When 
I  scratch  myself,  the  scratching  is  their  voice.  .  .  .  Lowly 
people  are  mostly  seduced  by  anger  and  sadness,  but  the 
rich  and  powerful  by  arrogance  and  pride."* 

Another  favorite  conception  of  Christianity  origin- 
ated in  the  Roman  idea  of  looking  upon  religion  as  a 
legal  affair.  It  must  have  been  a  lawyer  who  made  that 
happy  hit  of  presenting  the  case  of  Satan  versus  mankind 
or  versus  Christ  juridically,  in  the  form  of  a  regular  law- 
suit, in  which,  of  course,  Satan  in  the  end  is  worsted. 
The  booklet,  which  bears  the  title  Processus  Sathance^ 
became  so  popular  that  it  was  repeatedly  edited  by  vari- 
ous authors  and  is  still  extant  in  various  redactions,  one 

*Roskoff,  pp.  535-545- 


288 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


of  the  best  and  oldest  being  by  Bartolus,  a  lawyer  who 
lived  1313-1355.=^= 

The  Devil  played  the  role  of  a  joker  in  the  Passion 
plays,  and  his  part  became  more  and  more  prominent.  In 
France  the  idea  prevailed  that  the  great  mysteries  should 
always  have  not  less  than  four  devils,  a  usage  which 
is  mentioned  in  Rabelais.  Hence  the  proverb,  ^^  Faire 
le  diable  a  qiiatre.'^  In  Mediaeval  mysteries  God  the 
Father,  God  the  Son,  and  Satan  appear  on  the  stage,  and 


GOD  THE  FATHER  SATAN  GOD  THE  SON 

The  Main  Actors  in  Medi.ival  Mysteries. f 

the  last  one  is  practically  the  main  actor  in  the  whole 
drama.  He  was  the  intriguer  who,  after  his  successful 
revolution  against  the  Lord,  set  up  an  empire  of  his  own 
in  Hell ;  and  without  the  Devil's  intrigues  the  whole  plot 
of  man's  fall  and  Christ's  salvation  would  be  impossible.  J 
The  works  of  Caesarius,  of  Heisterbach,  Richalmus, 

*  Concerning  the  Processus  Sathancc,  see  Dr.  R.  Stintzing,  Gcschichtc  der 
pofuliircH  I.ittcratur  dcs  rom.  can.  Kechts  in  Dentschland,  Leipsic,  1867.  Ros- 
koff's  book  on  the  Devil  contains  on  pages  349-355  extracts  from  Stintzing. 

fFrom  Bilderntlas  zui-  Gcschichtc  dcr  dcutsclicn  NationaUitteratur,  by  Dr. 
Gustav  Konnecke,  Marburg,  1895,  p.  93. 

XFloegd's  Gcschichtc  dcs  Grolcsk-Koniischcn.  bearbeitet  von  Vr  W.  Ebe- 
ling.  pp.  70-71,  iig-120. 


THE  devil's  prime.  289 

Bartolus,  and  others  are  by  no  means  the  only  ones  that 
treat  on  devil-lore ;  they  are  typical  of  a  large  class  of 
similar  literaiy  productions. 

While  the  Church  in  her  struggles  for  supremacy, 
aspiring  for  worldly  power,  began  to  neglect  her  spirit- 
ual duties,  people  sought  comfort  in  sects.  The  Mani- 
chees  increased,  Catharism  spread  rapidly  and  many  new 
sects,  such  as  the  Albigenses,  were  founded.  Almost  all 
sectarians  were  moi-ally  earnest  and  sincere,  yet  the  gen- 
eral character  of  these  sects  was  similar  to  the  Manichees, 
an  openly  avowed  dualism.  The  tendencies  of  the  time 
were  dualistic,  and  the  Church  also  was  under  the  in- 
fluence of  dualistic  views.  Nevertheless,  orthodox  Chris- 
tianity, at  least  in  her  noblest  expositors,  such  as  Thomas 
Aquinas  and  other  Christian  philosophers,  never  lost 
sight  of  the  monistic  ideal,  in  spite  of  all  its  denionolo- 
gical  errors.  The  denionology  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  at 
bottom  a  mythical  excrescence,  for  the  Devil's  power  was 
all  the  time  regarded  as  a  mere  sham,  as  Blendwerk.  He 
still  served  the  higher  purposes  of  the  omnipotent  God, 
who  used  him  for  his  wise  and  well-calculated  ends.  Thus 
it  was  a  natural  consequence  that  the  Devil  appeared  in 
spite  of  his  smartness  as  the  dupe  of  God ;  his  fate  was 
always  to  be  defeated  and  ridiculed.  As  such  he  figures 
in  the  mysteries,  the  Easter  and  Chinstmas  plays,  in 
which  he  acts  one  of  the  most  important  parts,  that  of  in- 
triguer, harlequin,  and  fool. 

Kindred  Superstitions. 

Belief  in  witchcraft  was  only  the  main  result  of  the 
established  authority  of  a  religion  of  magic,  involving  the 


290 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


belief  in  a  personal  Devil.  There  are  other  consequences 
which,  though  less  important,  are  sometimes  bad  enough 
in  themselves.  We  mention  a  few  of  them:  (1)  There 
were  persons  who  actually  tried  to  make  contracts  with 
the  Devil.  (2)  People  possessed  of  a  lively  imagination 
began  to  dream  that  they  stood  in  all  kinds  of  relations 
to  the  Evil  One.  There  are  cases  in  which  imaginary 
Avitches  surrendered  themselves  voluntarily  to  the  Inqui- 
sition. (3)  Soldiers  entertained  the  hope  of  rendering 
themselves  bullet-proof.    (4)  Many  methods  were  devised 


Witches.      (From  Horndorli  Ih-  ma^icis  artihiis  i 

to  predict  the  future.  (5)  There  were  plenty  of  fools  who 
tried  to  become  rich  by  magic  ;  and  (6)  worst  of  all,  men 
who  knew  better  than  the  self -constituted  guardians  of 
the  right  faith,  were  relentlessly  persecuted  even  unto 
death . 

The  Devil  was  believed  to  hold  court  and  to  celebrate 
witches'  sabbaths,  on  which  occasions  homage  was  paid 
him  and  the  Christian  sacraments  were  travestied  with 
diabolical  malice. 

The  most  remarkable  case  of  bestial  demonolatry 
with  all  its  incidental  crimes,  is  recorded  in  the  annals  of 


THE  DEVIL  S  PRIME. 


291 


a 
B 


292  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

France  wliere  Giles  De  Rais  (also  spelled  Raiz  and  Retz) , 
one  of  the  greatest  dignitaries  of  the  State,  a  descendant 
of  the  highest  noble  families  of  Brittany,  and  a  marshal 
of  France,  v.-as  charged  with  kidnapping  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  women  and  children,  who,  after  being  sub- 
jected to  all  kinds  of  outrages,  were  solemnly  sacrificed 
to  Satan/''  The  facts  seem  impossible  but  the  complete 
records  of  the  case  are  still  extant,  according  to  which 
Rais  was  convicted  and  executed  in  1440.  The  history 
of  his  life  has  apparently  contributed  to  the  formation  of 
the  legend  of  Bluebeard. 

Among  the  persons  who  gave  themselves  up  to  the 
Inquisition  we  mention  Katharine  Jung  of  Amdorf ,  Hes- 
sia,  who  confessed  to  her  own  father  that  she  was  a  witch. 
The  poor  man  regarded  it  as  his  duty  to  denounce  her, 
and  after  ten  daj^s,  on  May,  11,  1631,  the  girl  was  exe- 
cuted. 

Another  case  of  comparatively  recent  date  happened 
in  Alvebrode,  Hanover.  An  old  spinster,  daughter  of  the 
widow  Stein grob ,  had  a  brother  who  suffered  from  attacks 
of  asthma.  Her  mother  was  blind  and  lame,  and  her  sis- 
ter had  died  of  consumption.  Some  people  in  the  village 
suggested  that  the  attacks  which  came  upon  her  brother 
were  due  to  witchcraft,  and  at  last  the  old  spinster  herself 
declared  she  was  a  witch  and  described  her  relations  with 
the  Devil  in  the  minutest  terms.  She  was  convinced  her- 
self that  she  had  bewitched  her  mother  and  sister  and 
could  injure  people  by  a  mere  glance.  Anxious  about  the 
welfare  of  the  villagers,  she  warned  them  to  avoid  her, 
and  tried  to  drown  herself  during  an  attack  of  melancholy, 

*See  luicydo.  Brit.,  Vol.  XX.,  p.  258. 


THE  devil's  prime.  293 

but  she  was  rescued  aud  imprisoned.  The  physician,  a 
sensible  and  humane  man,  declared,  judging  from  bodily 
symptoms,  that  she  suffered  from  a  disease  which  had  con- 
fused her  mind,  but  she  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
submit  to  treatment.  She  insisted  that  she  was  as  healthy 
as  a  fish  and  that  the  Devil  could  not  be  driven  out  by 
medicine.  She  said :  "  It  is  in  vain  to  try  to  cure  a  witch. 
I  deserve  death  and  shall  gladly  die,  but  please  do  not 
burn  me,  have  me  dispatched  with  the  sword.  Every- 
thing will  be  well  when  I  am  dead."  Thereupon  the  phy- 
sician resorted  to  a  stratagem.  He  persuaded  her  that 
her  neck  was  sword-proof,  and  succeeded  in  indiicing  her 
to  take  medicine  to  make  her  neck  soft  again  for  decapi- 
tation. She  was  then  treated  according  to  the  prescrip- 
tions of  her  physician,  with  bodil}^  exercise  and  regular 
diet  and  sleep  until  her  mind  improved,  and  she  forgot 
all  about  witchcraft  and  her  sword-proof  neck. 

Christian  Elsenreiter,  a  student  of  Passau,  palmed 
off  upon  credulous  soldiers  for  making  them  bullet-proof 
a  slip  of  paper  upon  which  he  wrote,  "Devil  help  me, 
body  and  soul  I  give  to  thee !  ' '  The  paper  had  to  be 
swallowed,  and  Elsenreiter  claimed  that  he  who  would 
die  of  it  within  twenty-four  hours  would  go  to  hell,  but  he 
who  survived  would  be  bullet-proof  all  his  life. 

A  Saxon  Colonel  had  been  hit  twice  during  his  mil- 
itary career  by  a  bullet,  but  in  each  case  a  Mansf eld- 
Thaler  had  protected  him.  This  incident  gave  rise  to  the 
notion  that  Mansfeld-Thalers  make  one  bullet-proof,  and 
there  was  no  officer  in  the  imperial  army  during  the 
Turkish  wars  who  did  not  carr3-  at  least  one  of  them  about 


294 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


his  person.      The  price  of  Mansfeld-Thalers  at  that  time 
was  fifteen  times  their  face  value. 

Various    kinds    of    magic    wands    and   divining-rods 
which  were  supposed  to  indicate  the  place  where  treas- 


VlRGULTA  DiVINA, 

(According  to  the  Pnciimalologia  occulta*     This  divining  rod  must  be  made  of 

copper  or  brass.) 

urcs  lay  hidden,  were  made  in  great  quantities.  There 
are  innumerable  magic  fornuilas  and  exorcisms,  most  of 
them  invoking  God  or  the  Trinitjs  or  Jesus  Christ,  in 

•Published  from  an  old  MS  by  Georg  Conrad  Ilorst  in  his  /.auhcrbibliol/ie.k, 
I.,  pp.  92  ff.  We  abstain  here  from  reproducing  the  incantations  that  must  be  used 
in  order  to  be  successful. 


THE  devil's  prime. 


295 


Hebrew  or  Latin  ;  especially  tlie  words  Yahveh  (™~"')  and 
Adonai  (':"iN')  play  an  important  part  and  were  believed 
to  be  very  effective.  Among  the  magic  symbols  which 
are  met  with  in  old  documents,  the  triangle,  the  cross, 
the  pentagram,  and  the  signs  of  the  planets  are  preferred  ; 
but  other  figures,  such  as  squares,  hexagrams,  circles,  and 
fantastic  combinations  of  irregular  lines  are  also  quite 
frequent.  Conjurations  were  made  according  to  various 
prescriptions ;  a  circle  was  drawn  at  midnight  where  two 
roads  cross ;  it  was  lit  with  wax  candles  made  after  spe- 


160  Gbrakdi  Crbmones 


r 


&■  IIA  pott/}  otiodlibttnly 
ltd  figniini  tl't  "Ji  tmdtni 
THti»:f.i.HlifihK^r!" 


/ir^% 


A  Seal  of  Petrus  de  Albano  for 
Conjuring  Good  Spirits* 


The  Twelve  Houses  of  a  Horo- 

■     SCOPE,  f 


cific  recipes.  The  conjurer  had  to  prepare  himself  by 
fasts  and  prayers,  sometimes  by  partaking  of  the  holy 
communion  at  church,  and  when  at  last  he  failed  to  find 
the  treasure  or  to  accomplish  his  purpose,  whatever  it 
may  have  been,  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  he  made 
some  trifling  mistake  in  his  preparations. 

The    most    fashionable    method    of    predicting    the 


*Agrippa  ab  Nettesheim,  De  occ.  fJiil.,  p.  459. 

t  After  Gerhard's  Geomanlic  Astronomy.  See  Agripfa  ah  Xettesheim  de 
occiiUa  philosopJiia,  liber  III.,  chap.  XI.  " De  divinis  nominibus  eorundemque 
potentia  et  virtute." 


296 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


future  was  the  casting  of  horoscopes,  which  still  served 
astronomers  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  a  means  of 
making  a  living.  Kepler,  who  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
the  superstitious  Emperor  Rudolf  II.,  felt  the  deep  humil- 
iation of  his  position,  but  he  bore  it  with  good  humor,  as 
we  know  from  himself.     He  writes  : 

"Astrology  is  indeed  a  foolish  child,  but,  good  gracious,  where 
would  her  mother,  the  wise  astronomy,  be  if  she  had  not  this  fool- 
ish child  !  Is  not  the  world  more  foolish  still  so  foolish,  indeed, 
that  the  old  sensible  mother  (i.  e.,  astronomy)  must  be  introduced 


•01  n 


AA, 


\rL\    _ 


•n 

n 

T» 

n 

-> 

a 

1 

t^ 

»> 

^ 

•> 

"1 

T^ 

-1 

T^ 

t^ 

^U 


The  Sign  of  the  First  Hour  of 
Sunday.* 


The  Divine  Name  Arranged  for 
Conjuration,  f 


to  the  people  .  .  .  through  her  daughter's  foolishness.  .  .  .  But  when 
guesses  are  limited  to  yes  and  no,  one  has  always  about  half  the 
chances  in  one's  favor.  .  .  .  Right  guesses  are  remembered,  failures 
forgotten,  and  so  the  astrologer  remains  in  honor.  "| 

One  reason  wh}'  there  were  alwa3's  so  many  fools 
who  in  spite  of  their  fear  of  eternal  damnation  tried  to 
make  contracts  with  the  Prince  of  Darkness  was  the  prev- 
alent   idea    illustrated    in  man}'  old  legends  that  it  was 

■"Devised  by  Petrus  de  Alb.ino  for  the  "  exploration  "  of  the  week.      Kepro- 
duced  from  "Elementa  Magica"  in  Dc  occ.  fhil.,  p.  465. 

\  Agrippa  ab  I\'fttcs/ieun  lin  occulta  fhilosophia,  p.  560. 

X  Translated  from  Cams  Sterne,  Die  tdlgcmeiue  lVcltaiisc/iauu»,ir,  p.  56. 


THE  DEVIL  S  PRIME. 


191 


quite  possible  to  shirk  one's  obligations ;  indeed  God  and 
all  the  saints  were  supposed  to  be  always  ready  to  assist 
people  in  cheating  the  Devil  out  of  his  own.  As  an  in- 
stance that  characterises  this  belief,  quite  common  in  the 


Knight  and  Devil.     (Old  German  Print.) 

Middle  Ages,  we  c[uote  the  legend   of   St.  Gertrude,  an 
Old-German  poem  of  iinknown  authorship.* 

"■'Translated  by  E.  F.  L.  Gauss  from  Deulschfr  Licderhort,  (Erk  &  Bohme) 
Vol.  III.  See  also  Das  Klostcr,  Stuttgart,  1S46,  Vol.  II.,  Parti.,  p.  176.  The 
original  MS.  of  the  poem  is  preserved  in  the  Heidelberg  Library. 


298  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"A  knight  was  stricken  by  poverty  great, 
His  goods  he  all  had  wasted, 
And  gone  from  him  was  his  whole  estate; 
Such  bitter  want  he'd  tasted 

That  to  take  his  life  he  intended. 

"He  rode  to  the  forest  dark  and  dim, 
But  there,  the  Devil  awaited 
The  knight  and  said  to  him  : 
'Thou  shalt  be  reinstated 

If  thou  wilt  assist  me  in  secret.' 

"'I'll  give  thee  chests  full  of  glittering  gold 
In  exchange  for  thy  loving  maiden. 
Then  canst  thou  live  well  and  free  and  bold, 
Until  thon  diest.      Well  laden 

With  joys  shalt  thou  be  while  living.' 

"And  happy  was  the  maiden  fair. 

The  new  wealth  her  heart  delighted  ; 
'But  say,  my  Lord,'  she  asked,  'from  where 
Do  the  riches  come?'     Then  affrighted 
Was  the  knight  at  her  look  and  her  query. 

"'O,  lady  dear  wilt  thou  ride  with  me 
Through  a  forest  green  and  pleasant? 
The  birds  of  the  forest  there  play  in  glee. 
And  the  songs  are  now  heard  incessant 
Which  gaily  the  birds  are  singing.' 

"Together  a  green  forest  they  reached  ; 
And  near  the  road  was  standing 
A  little  chapel,  where  men  beseeched 
Mary,  whose  arms  were  expanding 
To  all  :  our  worthy  mother,  our  lady. 

"To  the  knight  the  maiden  said:    'Let  me 
Here  stop  in  pious  feeling 


THE  devil's  prime.  299 

In  the  chapel  to  pray  an  Ave  Marie.' 
At  the  altar  she  was  kneeling 

With  her  arms  acrosswise  folded. 

"She  there  fell  asleep,  forgetting  her  care, 
And  Mary  stepped  forth  from  the  altar 
And  to  the  knight  she  came  blooming  fair, 
In  her  hand  bearing  rosary  and  psalter. 
And  mounted,  as  if  'twere  the  maiden. 

"They  both  reached  soon,  in  the  forest  dense, 
The  cross-road  where  the  Devil  was  standing, 
His  rage  on  seeing  them  was  intense. 

•Thou  hast  cheated  me  !'  he  was  demanding, 
'Thou  treacherous  liar,  thou  trickster  ! 

"  'Thou  hast  promised  to  bring  here  thy  lady  fair, 
And  thou  bringest  the  Queen  of  Heaven! 
With  her  I  cannot  my  conquests  share. 
From  her  presence  I  must  be  driven 
Yea,  driven  from  her  forever.' 

"Said  Mary: 

"'Thou  evil  spirit,  away  with  thee, 
To  thy  fellows  thou  shalt  be  criven, 
The  lady  thou  must  leave  with  me  ! 
My  Son's  kingdom  she  shall  live  in. 
Now  and  forever  !  Amen.'" 

What  charms  the  idea  of  magic  exercises  upon  a 
man's  mind  may  be  learned  from  the  fact  that  even 
Goethe,  one  of  the  clearest-headed  men  of  modern  times, 
passed  through  a  period  of  his  life  (as  we  know  from  his 
Wahrheit  und  Diclitung)  in  which  he  pondered  upon 
the  possibility  of  occultism.  Reminiscences  of  this  kind 
found  classical  expression  in  his  ballad  "The  Treasure- 


300  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Digger,"  which  on  account  of  its  practical  beauty  and 
sound  moral  lesson  deserves  to  be  translated  and  quoted.* 
The  treasure-digger  speaks : 

"Sick  at  heart,  poor  in  possession 
Dragged  my  da3's  unto  the  latest, 
Poverty  is  of  curses  greatest, 
Riches  are  the  highest  good  ! 
And  to  end  my  sore  depression 
I  went  forth  to  dig  for  treasure, 
•Thine  my  soul  be  at  thy  pleasure!' 
I  wrote  down  with  my  own  blood. 

"  Circle  within  circle  drawing, 
Wondrous  flames  I  then  collected 
Unto  herbs  and  bones,  selected. 
And  conjured  a  spell  of  might, 
Then  in  manner  overawing, 
As  I'd  learned,  I  dug  for  treasure 
On  the  spot  1  found  by  measure. 
Black  and  stormy  was  the  night. 

"And  I  saw  a  light's  formation 
Brightening  to  a  star's  consistence, 
Coming  from  the  farthest  distance 
Just  as  struck  the  midnight  hour. 
Vain  was  further  preparation, 
And  a  beauteous  youth,  with  glowing 
Splendor  from  a  cup  o'erflowing 
Spread  a  flash  with  searching  power. 

•'Yet  his  eyes  my  soul  delighted  ; 
'Neath  a  wealth  of  flowers  tender. 
With  that  cup  of  heavenly  splendor 
Stepped  1k'  in  the  magic  ring; 

•Translation  by  E    F.  L,  Gauss,  of  Chicago,  111. 


THE  devil's  prime. 


301 


'J 
B 


302  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Friendly  me  to  drink  invited, 
And  I  thouglit :   this  youth  so  purely 
Off' ring  gifts  of  heaven,  surely 
Cannot  be  the  evil  king. 

"  'Courage  drink,  and  life's  pure  pleasure/ 
Quoth  he.    'Learn  from  this  occasion, 
That  by  anxious  conjuration 
No  boon  can  this  place  afford. 
Dig  no  longer  for  vain  treasure  ! 
Work  by  day,  and  guests  at  leisure, 
Toilsome  weeks  and  feastdays'  pleasure, 
Be  thy  future  magic  word  !'  "* 

The  height  of  folly  that  the  belief  iu  a  religion  of 
magic  is  capable  of,  was  actually  attained  in  the  persecu- 
tion of  men  of  science  whose 
^^iite  doctrines  came  in  conflict  with 

>  tradition.     Not  only  religious 

""«\,       I  I  111,  reformers,  like  Savonarola  and 

Huss,  were  condemned  to  be 
burned  alive  and  to  die  a  her- 
etic's death,  but  also  thinkers 
like  Giordano  Bruno.  Galileo 
at  the  age  of  seventy  was  im- 
prisoned and  surrendered  to 
Savonarola.  ^j^^  Inquisition  at  the  demand 

of  Pope  Urban.     Threatened  with  tortitre,  he  was  forced 
to  recant  publicly  the  heresy  of  the  motion  of  the  earth. f 

*This  is  most  likely  the  poem  of  which  Schiller  writes  to  Goethe  in  a  letter 
dated  May  23,  1797  :  "It  is  so  exemplary,  beautiful,  and  round  and  perfect,  that  I 
felt  very  forcibly,  while  reading  it,  how  even  a  small  whole,  a  simple  idea,  can 
give  us  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest,  by  perfect  presentation." 

■f  The  most  thorough  exposition  of  this  sad  chapter  in  the  history  of  civilisation 
is  found  in  President  Andrew  Dickson  While's  two  volumed  work  .-/  llislory  of  the 
War/are  of  Science  with  'J'/ieolo^ry  in  Christendom.     New  York.      1896. 


THE  devil's  prime. 


303 


The  religion  of  miracles  had  in  the  natural  course  of 
evolution  become  the  religion  of  magic.     The  religion  of 


Savonarola  Praying  in  His  Cell.     (From  Castelar.) 

magic  had  proved  to  be  a  belief  in  witchcraft,  and  the  be- 
lief in  witchcraft  had  brought  forth  the  terrible  fruit  of 


304 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


« 


3 
« 


THE  devil's  I'RIMK.  305 

witcli-prosecution  with  all  kindred  superstitions,  among 
whicli  tlie  hatred  of  science  was  not  the  least  injurious  to 
true  relitjion  and  the  highest  interests  of  mankind. 

The  belief  in  witchcraft  ceased  naturally  with  the 
ascendancy  of  science.  The  more  Christianity  became 
imbued  with  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  rarer  became  the  fagot,  and  the  fires  were  at 
last  extinguished  forever.  So  long  as  Christianity  was 
interpreted  as  a  religion  of  magic,  nothing  could  stop  the 
terrible  mania  for  burning  witches,  neither  the  fear  of 
future  punishments  for  the  tortures  inflicted  upon  many 
innocent  victims,  nor  the  pangs  of  conscience  that  were 
now  and  then  felt  by  the  judges,  nor  Christian  charity 
and  love.  There  was  only  one  remedy,  viz.,  a  clear  in- 
sight into  the  :iature  of  things  revealing  the  impossibil- 
ity of  witchcraft ;  but  that  one  remedy  afforded  an  unfail- 
ing cure. 


THE  INQUISITION. 


Heretics  Outlawed. 

THE  saddest  side  of  tlie  Devil's  history  appears  in  the 
persecution  of  those  who  were  supposed  to  be  ad- 
herents of  the  Devil;  namely,  sectarians,  heretics,  and 
witches.  The  most  ridiculous  accusations  were  made  and 
believed  of  the  Manichees,  the  Montanists,  the  Novatian 
Puritans  or  Cathari  (waS^po;') ,  the  Albigenses,  and  other 
dissenters.  They  were  said  to  worship  the  Devil  by  most 
obscene  ceremonies,  and  their  intercourse  with  him  was 
described  most  minutely  as  indecent  and  outrageous.  In 
times  of  a  general  belief  in  witchcraft  and  the  Devil's 
power,  nobody  was  safe  against  the  accusation  of  being  in 
the  service  of  Satan.  Thus  the  Stedingers,  having  effec- 
tually resisted  the  Bishop  of  Bremen  when  he  tried  to 
take  their  tithes  from  them  by  force  of  arms,  were  van- 
quished and  cruelly  slaughtered  after  having  been  de- 
nounced as  Devil-worshippers.  The  order  of  the  Temp- 
lars, the  richest  and  most  powerful  and  even  the  most 
orthodox  order  of  Christianity,  was  accused  of  the  mean- 
est and  most  bestial  idolatry,  simply  because  an  avari- 
cious king  of  France  was  anxious  to  deprive  them  of  their 


THE  INQUISITION.  307 

wealth  and  valuable  possessions ;  and  innumerable  pri- 
vate citizens,  poor  people  as  a  rule  recklessly  and  rich 
people  deliberately,  were  made  in  some  way  or  other  vic- 
tims of  this  most  shameful  superstition,  sometimes  to 
benefit  ecclesiasticism,  sometimes  to  serve  the  interests 
of  the  powerful,  sometimes  out  of  sheer  ignorance,  and 
sometimes  even  with  the  purest  and  sincerest  intentions 
of  doing  the  right  thing  for  the  best  of  mankind,  and 
with  the  pious  desire  of  obeying  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
"Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live"  (Exodus  xxii. 
18) . 

The  witch-prosecution  mania  was  a  general  and  a 
common  disease  of  the  age.  On  the  one  hand,  it  cannot 
(as  is  often  supposed)  be  attributed  to  the  influence  of 
the  Church  alone,  and  it  would,  on  the  other  hand,  be  a 
grave  mistake  to  absolve  the  ecclesiastical  institutions  of 
the  fearful  crimes  of  this  superstition ;  for  the  highest 
authorities  of  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  Christianity 
not  only  upheld  the  idea  of  witch-prosecution,  but  en- 
forced it  in  the  execution  of  the  law  in  all  its  most  ter- 
rible consequences. 

It  was  natural  that  heretics  should  always  be  regarded 
as  belonging  to  the  same  category  as  witches  and  wizards, 
for  they,  too,  were  according  to  the  logic  of  ecclesiastical 
reasoning  "  worshippers  of  Satan."  Deuteronomy  com- 
mands that  prophets  and  dreamers  of  dreams,  who  by 
signs  or  wonders  that  come  to  pass  would  persuade  Israel- 
ites to  obey  other  gods,  "  shall  be  put  to  death"  (xiii.  5- 
11).     We  read: 

"If  thy  brother,    the  son  of  thy  mother,   or  thy  son,  or  thy 
daughter,  or  the  wife  of  thy  bosom,  or  thy  friend,  which  is  as  thine 


308  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

own  soul,  entice  thee  secretly,  saying.  Let  us  go  and  serve  other 
gods,  which  thou  hast  not  known,  thou,  nor  thy  fathers  ; 

"Namely,  of  the  gods  of  the  people  which  are  roundabout 
you,  nigh  unto  thee,  or  far  off  from  thee,  from  the  one  end  of  the 
earth  even  unto  the  other  end  of  the  earth  ; 

"Thou  shalt  not  consent  unto  him,  nor  hearken  unto  him; 
neither  shall  thine  eye  pity  him,  neither  shalt  thou  spare,  neither 
shalt  thou  conceal  him  : 

"  But  thou  shalt  surely  kill  him  ;  thine  hand  shall  be  first  upon 
him  to  put  him  to  death,  and  afterwards  the  hand  of  all  the  people. 

"And  thou  shalt  stone  him  with  stones,  that  he  die  ;  because 
he  hath  sought  to  thrust  thee  away  from  the  Lord  thy  God,  which 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage. 

"And  all  Israel  shall  hear,  and  fear,  and  shall  do  no  more  any 
such  wickedness  as  this  is  among  you." 

Relying  on  this  passage,  St.  Jerome  (340-420 
A.  D.)  did  not  hesitate  to  advise  the  infliction  of  capital 
punishment  upon  heretics ;  and  Leo  the  Great  (Pope, 
440-461  A.  D.)  takes  the  same  view.* 

Priscillian,  a  bishop  of  Spain,  a  man  of  learning  and 
pure  morals,  was  the  first  heretic  who  was  put  to  torture 
and  together  with  some  of  his  adherents  decapitated  at 
Treves  in  the  year  385.  The  followers  of  Priscillian  re- 
vered the  memory  of  their  teacher  as  that  of  a  martyr, 
and  formed  a  sect  which  continued  to  exist  for  a  long  time 
in  spite  of  the  excommunication  of  the  Church.  Pope 
Leo  the  Great  justified  and  praised  the  condemnation  of 
Priscillian. 

Under  Pope  Alexander  III.,  the  title  "Inquisitor," 
in  the  sense  of  judge  in  matters  of  faith,  was  used  for  the 
first  time  at  the  council  of  Tours  (in  1163) .     The  synod 

*See  Epist.  xv.,  ad  Tiirribium 


THE  INQUISITION.  309 

of  Verona  (in  1184)  cursed  all  heretics,  and  ordered 
tlieui,  in  case  they  relapsed,  to  be  handed  over  to  the 
secular  authorities  for  capital  punishment.  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.  (1198-1216)  for  the  sake  of  crushing  the  Albi- 
genses  gave  power  to  papal  emissaries  to  sue  the  heretics, 
and  enjoined  all  bishops  on  penalty  of  deposition  to  assist 
in  the  discovery  and  prosecution  of  unbelievers.  Follow- 
ing in  the  footsteps  of  Gregor3'  VII.,  he  vindicated  the 
supremacy  of  the  Church  over  the  State ;  he  humiliated 
Philip  Augustus  of  France,  deposed  Emperor  Otto  IV., 
compelled  John  of  England  to  acknowledge  the  feudal 
sovereignty  of  the  Pope  and  pay  tribute.  He  instigated 
the  fourth  crusade  (1202-1204)  and  exterminated  the  Al- 
bigenses.  Under  his  papacy,  at  the  suggestion  of  Cas- 
tilian  Dominic  and  the  Bishop  of  Toulouse,  the  new  order 
of  Dominicans  was  instituted,  which  was  destined  to  be- 
come the  working  force  of  the  Inquisition.  Pope  Gregory 
IX.  pursued  the  traditional  policy  with  great  vigor,  estab- 
lishing a  regular  inquisitorial  office  for  Italy  under  the 
name  of  the  "Holy  Office,"  in  1224. 

Gregory's  policy  was  codified  in  an  instrument  of 
forty-five  articles  by  the  Council  of  Toulouse,  in  1229, 
and  thus  the  Inquisition  became  an  established  Church- 
institution,  the  appointment  and  superintendence  of  which 
formed  an  important  prerogative  of  the  Pope.  It  was  not 
until  this  period  that  the  Pope  became  the  absolute  ruler 
of  the  Church,  for  now  even  bishops  could  be  cited  before 
the  papal  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition.  Gregory  IX.  ap- 
pointed (in  1232)  the  Dominicans  as  papal  inquisitors, 
who  performed  the  terrible  duties  of  their  office  so  faith- 
fully that   they  truly  earned   the  title  of  Domini  canes., 


310  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"the  sleuth-hounds  of  the  Lord,"  which  originated  in  a 
word-plaj'  on  their  name. 

A  famous  fresco  in  the  Santa  Maria  Novella  at  Flor- 
ence entitled  Domini  canes ^  painted  by  Simone  Memmi, 
represents  the  inquisitorial  idea  under  the  allegory  of  a 
pack  of  hounds  chasing  off  the  wolves  from  the  sheep- 
fold. 

Gregory  IX.  (1227-1241)  sent  Conrad  of  Marburg  to 
Germany  and  gave  him  unlimited  power  of  citing  before 
his  tribunal  all  people  suspected  of  witchcraft,  command- 
ing him  to  bring  the  guilty  to  the  fagot.  And  this  fiend- 
ish man  obeyed  with  joy  his  master,  whom  he  revered  as 
the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth.  He  encountered  much  op- 
position, for  the  people  became  rebellious,  and  even  the 
Archbishops  of  Cologne,  Treves,  and  Mayence  attempted 
to  resist  him.  But  Conrad  remained  firm;  his  practices 
had  the  unequivocal  sanction  of  his  Holiness  the  Pope, 
and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  begin  proceedings  even  against 
these  three  highest  dignitaries  of  the  Church  in  Ger- 
many. Wherever  Conrad  appeared,  the  fagots  were  lit, 
and  many  innocent  people  became  the  victims  of  his  fa- 
naticism. The  Archbishop  of  Mayence,  bent  on  stopping 
this  fiend,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Pope,  in  which  he  said  : 
"Whoever  fell  into  his  hands  had  only  the  choice  between  a 
ready  confession  for  the  sake  of  saving  his  life  and  a  denial,  where- 
upon he  was  speedily  burnt.  Every  false  witness  was  accepted, 
but  no  just  defence  granted, — not  even  to  people  of  prominence. 
The  person  arraigned  had  to  confess  that  he  was  a  heretic,  that  he 
liad  touched  a  toad,  that  he  had  kissed  a  pale  man,  or  some  mon- 
ster. Many  Catholics  suffered  themselves  to  be  burnt  innocently 
rather  than  confess  to  such  vicious  crimes,  of  which  they  knew 
they  were  not  guilty.      Tlie  weak  ones,  in  order  to  save  their  lives, 


THE  INQUISITION. 


311 


c 
U 


s 


<S 


s 
J 


o 


312 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


lied  about  themselves  and  other  people,  especially  about  such 
prominent  ones  whose  names  were  suggested  to  them  by  Conrad. 
Thus  brothers  accused  their  brothers,  wives  their  husbands,  ser- 
vants their  masters.  Many  gave  money  to  the  clergy  for  good  ad- 
vice as  to  how  to  protect  themselves,  and  the  greatest  confusion 
originated."     {Alberici  Monachi  chron.  ad.  a.      1233.)* 

The  Archbishop's  letter  failed  to  impress  his  Holi- 
ness and  did  not  in  the  least  change  the  course  of  things. 


The  Banner  of  the  Spanish 
Inquisition. 


The  Banner  of  the  Inquisition 
OF  GoA.f 


On  the  contrary,  Rome  pursued  more  vigorously  than 
ever  its  old  policy,  which  was  at  last  definitely  formulated 
by  Pope  Urban  V.  in  his  bull  "/;/  ccriia  Domini^''''  pro- 
claimed in  1362,  which  sounded  the  slogan  against  all 
who  ventured  to  dissent  from  Rome,  and  solemnly  con- 
demned heresy  in  strong  and  unequivocal  terms. 

*Roskoff,   (ii'sc/iic/i/f  tiis  Vrii/'r/s,  II.,  pp.  215-216. 

■f  The  illustrations  on  pages  312-320  are  reproduced  from  I'icart. 


THE  INQUISITION. 


313 


Meanwhile  the  success  of  the  Inquisition  had  been 
greatly  imperilled  by  the  oppositicni  which  Conrad  of 
Marburg  encountered  in  German}-.  When  the  Inquisitor- 
General  indicted  Count  Henry  of  Sayn  for  heresy,  he  was 
cited  before  the  German  Diet  that  was  held  in  Mayence. 
The  Diet  was  not  inclined  to  respect  Conrad's  authority 
and  passed  a  vote  of  censure.      Bent  on  vengeance  for  the 


The  Chamber  of  the  Inquisition.     Listening  to  an  Informer. 

insult  received,  the  Inquisitor  left  for  Paderborn,  but  be- 
fore he  could  do  further  mischief  he  was  overtaken  by 
several  noblemen  on  the  30th  of  Juh',  1233,  near  Mar- 
burg, on  the  Lalin,  and  slain.'"     Thus  he  fell  a  mart3'r 

*  See  Jvourad  7'on  Marburg,  by  Henke  (Marburg.  1861),  and  another  work  of 
the  same  title  by  Beck  (Breslau,  1861). 

Conrad  was  the  father  confessor  of  Elizabeth,  the  widow  of  the  Landgrave  of 
Thuringia.  The  poor  woman  submitted  to  most  indecent  corporal  punishments, 
and  was  sainted  as  a  reward.     If  the  same  events  happened  to-day,  both  the  Land- 


314 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


to  his  bloody  profession.  The  Germans  breathed  more 
freelj',  but  Gregory  IX.  canonised  him  as  a  saint  and 
martj-r,  and  ordered  that  a  chapel  be  built  on  the  spot  on 
which  he  was  killed. 

While  the  establishment  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Ger- 
many met  with  serious  difficulties,  the  inquisitors  were 


^'.■\RIOus  Manners  of  Cross-Examining  the  Defendants. 

welcomed  in  France  b}^  Louis  the  Pious,  Philip  the  Fair, 
and  Charles  IV. 

The  Inquisitor  Hugo  de  Beniols  had  a  number  of 
prominent  people  burned  alive  at  Toulouse,  in  1275, 
among    them   Angele,   Lady    of    Labarthe,    a    woman   of 

gravine  and  her  father  confessor  would  probably  have  been  transferred  from  the 
Wartburg  to  an  insane  asylum.  It  is  scarcely  credible,  but  nevertheless  true,  that 
a  book  appeared  in  defense  of  Conrad  as  an  inquisitor  and  of  his  fiendish  deeds  by 
K.^Itner.  under  the  title  Konrad  Ton  Marburg  unJ  die  Jyiquisilioti  in  Deutsch- 
littici.      T^rague,   1882. 


THE  INOUISITION. 


315 


sixty-five  years  accused  of  sexual  intercourse  with  Satan. 
It  is  stated  that  she  had  borne  a  monster  with  a  wolf's 
head  and  a  serpent's  tail,  whose  sole  food  consisted  of 
babies.  Under  the  rule  of  Charles  IV.  the  ill-famed  Bas- 
tile  was  built,  because  the  prisons  no  longer  sufficed  to 
hold  the  indicted  heretics. 

The  reign  of  Charles  VI.  is  distinguished  by  a  tem- 


A  Man  and  a  Woman  Convicted  of  Heresy  Who  Have  Pleaded  Guilty 
Before  Being  Condemned  to  Death. 

porary  lull  in  the  witchcraft-prosecution  in  France, 
mainly  due  to  the  w^eakness  of  the  papacy  arising  from 
the  great  schism  between  Rome  and  Avignon.  The 
curses  which  the  two  popes  mutually  visited  on  their  ad- 
herents appeared  to  change  into  blessings.  The  Sjaiod 
of  Ivangres  (1404)  speaks  of  soothsayers  as  impostors, 
and  holds  out  to  those  who  are  in  the  power  of  Satan  the 
hope  of  salvation  through  repentance  and  penance.     The 


316 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


tribunal  of  Toulouse  (1606)  enacted  no  other  punish- 
ments upon  thirteen  persons  than  fines,  fasts,  pilgrim- 
ages, and  almsgiving,  while  the  Inquisitor  was  tried  and 
convicted  for  the  misappropriation  of  confiscated  prop- 
erty. King  Charles  VI.  ordered  that  he  be  deprived  of 
his  salar}-.''" 

In  Spain  the  Inquisition  prospered  best.     The  Di- 


Herktics  Condemned  to  Be  Burned. 

rectorium  inquisitoruni  of  N.  Eymerich  (Rome  1587) ,  the 
inquisitor-general  for  Castile,  affords  us  a  complete  in- 
sight into  the  proceedings  of  the  Holy  Office,  its  sp3'- 
S3'steni,  its  modes  of  cross-examination  and  torture,  and 
its  spoils.  Torquemada  and  Ximenes  were  the  most  de- 
termined and  unrelenting  successors  of  Eymerich. i'    The 

*  Lamothe-Langon,  III.,  p.  299,  and  Soldan,  p.  193. 

\  F.  Hoffmann,  Gescliiclilf  drr  hujuisilion,  Bonn,  1878.    Llorente,  i'nschichte 
dtr  spayiischeii  hiquixilion.      German,  from   the  Spanish. 


THE  INQUISITION. 


317 


wealthiest,  tlie  most  powerful,  the  most  learned,  were 
threatened  alike,  and  even  Archbishop  Carranza,  the  pri- 
mate of  the  Church  of  Spain,  could  not  escape  the  prose- 
cution of  the  inquisitors. 

In  the  beginninjy  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Johannes 
Nider,  a  German  and  a  Dominican  monk,  published  a 
book  on    IVitcJtcs  cuid  Their  Deceptions''^     At  the  same 


7\rm  n  .>  'Jt 


A  Man  and  a  Woman  Condemned  to  Be  Burned  but  Pardoned  on  Account 
OF  Their  Confession. 

time  Pope  Eugene  IV.  (1431-1447)  encouraged  the  in- 
quisitors in  a  circular  letter  to  proceed  with  severit}^, 
"summarily,  without  ado,  and  without  any  judiciarj' 
form."t 

*Fr.  Joannes  Nider,  Suevi  ordin.  fracdicat.  s.  theoiog.  profess,  et  hey':/icae 
Jfestis  znqiiisitoris,  liber  z'nsign/'s  de  ma/efieits  et  eoritm  deceptiotiibus. 

f  "  Summarie  simpliciter  et  de  piano,  ac  sine  strepitu  et  figura  judicii." — Pope 
Eugene  in  his  circular  letter  to  the  Inquisitors  of  1437. 


318 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


The  Prior  of  St.  Germain,  William  von  Edelin,  who 
had  preached  against  the  reality  of  witchcraft,  had  to  beg 
pardon  publicly  in  the  Episcopal  Chapel  at  Evreux  on 
September  12,  1453,  and  to  confess  that  he  himself  had 
worshipped  Satan,  had  renounced  his  faith  in  the  cross, 
and  preached  that  witchcraft  was  an  illusion  at  the  espe- 
cial command  of  the  Devil  for  the  propagation  of  the  Sa- 


The  Inquisition  in  Session  on  the  Market  Square  at  Madrid. 


^.  King  and  Queen. 

B.  Grand  Inquisitor, 

C.  Counsellors. 
/>.  Nobility. 

/:'.  Tile  dcfenil.ints  .ind  Ilieir  families. 


F,  Two  cages  in  which  the  criminals    /.  The  preacher's  pulpit, 

were  placed  when  their  sentence    A".  A'.  Stands  for  those  who  read  the 
was  read.  sentences. 

f;.  Altar  for  saying  mass.  L,  Effigies  of  those  who  died  in  prison. 

N.N.   Fsnitcheon  of  the  Inquisition. 


tanic  dominion.'''      Edelin  remained  incarcerated  and  was 
soon  released  from  further  persecution  by  death. 

In  145S  J.  Nicolaus  Jaquerius  appeared  in  the  field 
with  another  publication  called  the  heretics'   scourge  or 


'^  See  Raynald  ad.  ann.  1451. 


Procession  of  the  Inquisition  of  Goa. 

./.    riic  Banner.  D.  Criminals   who,   having   pleaded  F.  Criminals  condemned  to  be  burned. 

A*.  Dominican  friars.  guilty,  were  pardoned.  (;'.  Effigiesof  those  who  escape  the  fag- 

C.  Criminals  condemned  to  be  burned  £.  Crucifix  turning  its  back  upon  those  ots  by  having  died  in  prison, 

alive.  that  are  condemned  to  be  burned.  H-  Grand  Inquisitor. 


The  Last  Sermon  Preached  to  the  Condemned. 


320 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Flagelhim  heriticorum  fascinarioruni'^'  (Frankfort,  1581) 
in  which  Edelin's  case  is  reported  t  as  one  argument 
among  many  others  for  the  reality  of  witchcraft.  And 
now  at  last  all  opposition  to  the  practices  of  witch-prose- 
cutors were  put  down. 

The  Inquisitor  Pierre  le   Broussart,  member  of  the 
Dominican  order,  cited  during  the  absence  of  the  Bishop 


The  Heretics'  Death  on  the  Fagots. 

of  Arras  a  number  of  persons  before  his  tribunal  and 
made  them  confess  on  the  rack  that  they  had  been  with 
the  Waldenses ;  he  promised  to  spare  their  lives  if  they 
agreed  publicly  to  confess  all  the  abominable  crimes  of 
which  the  Waldenses  had  been  accused.     At   a  public 


*The  book  is  frequently  appended  to  the  Malleus  Mahficarum. 
\  Chapter  IV.  contains  the  abjuration  formula. 


THE  INQUISITION.  321 

meeting  the  accused  persons  appeai-ed  on  a  scaffold ;  they 
wore  caps  exhibiting  pictures  of  Devil-worship.  The 
various  ceremonies  of  obscene  demonolatry  were  read  to 
them,  and  they  were  asked  whether  they  were  guilty. 
All  the  accused  affirmed  their  guilt,  whereupon,  in  utter 
neglect  of  previous  promises,  they  were  sentenced  and 
turned  over  to  the  secular  authorities  to  be  burned  alive. 
In  vain  did  they  now  shout  that  they  had  been  cheated, 
that  they  knew  nothing  of  the  crimes  of  which  they  had 
been  accused,  and  that  they  had  only  confessed  because 
they  had  been  promised  to  be  let  off  with  a  nominal  pun- 
ishment. Broussart  was  determined  to  set  an  example, 
and  had  them  executed  in  1560  in  spite  of  the  protesta- 
tions of  their  innocence. 


TJie   Witch-Hammer. 

Witch-prosecutions  received  a  new  impulse  in  the 
year  1484  through  the  bull  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII.,  be- 
ginning with  the  words  Siiiuiuis  desiderantes  affectibus. 
The  inquisitors  of  Germany,  Heinrich  Institoris  (whose 
German  name  was  Kramer)  and  Jacob  Sprenger,  com- 
plained of  having  met  with  resistance  while  attending  to 
their  duties,  and  the  Pope  afforded  them  the  desired  as- 
sistance for  the  sake  of  strengthening  the  Catholic  faith* 

*"....  ut  fides  catholica  nostris  potissime  temporibus  ubique  augeatur  et 
floreat,  ac  omnis  heretica  pravitas  de  finibus  fidelium  procul  pellatur.  .  .  .  Sane 
nuper  ad  nostrum  non  sine  ingenti  molestia  pervenit  auditum  quod  ....  complures 
utriusque  se.tus  personae  ....  cum  dasmonibus  incubis  et  succubis  abuti,  ac  suis 
incantationibus  ....  mulierum  partus,  animatium  foetus,  terrae  fruges  ....  periri, 
suffocari  et  extingui  facere  .  .  .  ."  (See  Soldan,  Hexenprocesse,  p.  222.  Roskoff, 
I.,  pp.  226-292  ) 


322  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

and  of  preventing  the  horrible  crimes  and  excesses  of 
witchcraft .  * 

The  bull  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  had  reference  to 
Germanj'  only;  but  other  popes,  Alexander  VI.,  Julius 
II.,  Leo  X.,  and  Hadrian  IV.,  issued  bulls  written  in  the 
same  spirit,  instigating  the  zeal  of  the  inquisitors  to  do 
their  best  for  the  purification  of  the  faith  and  the  supres- 
sion  of  witchcraft. 

The  heinous  bull  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  writing  of  the  Malleus  Male- 
ficartim^  or  Wiich-Hammer ,  which  received  the  sanction 
of  the  Pope,  and  a  patent  from  Emperor  Maximilian. 
With  the  Wttch-Haninicr  in  hand,  Sprenger  and  Insti- 
toris  appeared  in  1487  before  the  theological  faculty  of 
Cologne  and  demanded  their  approbation,  which  was 
given  with  reluctance  and  after  long  hesitation.  The 
original  form  of  the  document  is  ver\'  guarded  and  ap- 
proves of  the  principles  of  punishing  witchcraft  only  "in 
so  far  as  they  do  not  contradict  the  sacred  canons."  This 
did  not  appear  sufficient  and  the  inquisitors  insisted  upon 
a  more  decisive  verdict.  There  are  four  further  articles 
which  contain  an  unequivocal  request  to  the  secular  au- 
thorities to  assist  the  inquisition  in  the  interest  of  the 
Catholic  faith. 

In  addition  the  inquisitors  secured  a  notary's  certif- 
icate concerning  the  Emperor's  patent  and  the  approba- 

*Giovanno  Ballista  Cibo,  when  elected  pope  in  1484,  chose  the  name  Innocent, 
probably  in  commemoration  of  Innocent  VII.  The  people  of  his  time,  thinking 
that  he  did  not  deserve  the  name,  called  him  Noccns.  He  had  seven  natural 
children,  perhaps  more.     A  humorous  distich  castigates  him  as  follows: 

"  Octo  Nocens  pueros  genuit,  totidenique  puellas. 
Hunc  merito  poterit  dicere  Koma  patrem." 


THE  INQUISITION.  323 

tiou  of  tlie  theological  faculty ;  but  it  is  noteworthy  that 
the  Emperor's  patent  is  not  literally  reproduced;  nor  has 
it  (according  to  Soldan's'"'  opinion)  ever  been  published. 
The  notary  declares  merely  that  the  Emperor  promises 
to  protect  the  papal  bull  and  to  assist  both  inquisitors. 

Such  is  the  first  introduction  of  the  Witch-Hammer 
in  Germany,  and  the  book  was  at  once  recognised  by 
zealots  as  the  main  source  of  information  on  witchcraft. 
Damhouder,  the  great  criminalist  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, esteemed  its  authority  as  almost  equal  to  the  law;t 
and  its  baneful  influence  extends  over  a  period  of  three 
centuries. 

The  Malleus  Maleficarum^  or  Witch-Haminer ^  is  one 
of  the  most  famous  and  infamous  works  ever  written.  Its 
name  indicated  that  it  was  intended  to  crush  witchcraft. 
No  author  is  mentioned  but  Sprenger's  spirit  is  recog- 
nised in  both  its  preface  (the  Apologia^  and  the  various 
chapters  of  the  book.  Its  style  is  poor,  its  ideas  are  fool- 
ish, its  intentions  are  villainous,  and  the  advice  given  to 
the  inquisitors  concerning  their  procedure  betrays  a  dia- 
bolical perfidiousness.  The  book  contains  the  most 
confounded  nonsense,  often  self-contradictory,  and  is 
throughout  irrational  and  superstitious.  The  Witch- 
Hammer  advises  beginning  the  trial  with  the  question 
* '  whether  or  not  the  person  on  trial  believes  in  witch- 
craft." The  statement  is  added:  "Mind  that  witches 
generally  deny  the  question."  If  the  culprit  denies,  the 
inquisitor  continues:   "  Well,  then,  whenever  witches  are 

* Hexcnprocesse,  p.  222. 

f  "  Ita  recepta  est  in  hoc  scribendi  genere  eorum  authoritas  ut  pro  lege  apud 
omnes  habeatur." — Damhouder's  Praxis  rertem  criminalium. 


324  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

burnt,  they  are  innocently  condemned."  A  denial  of 
witchcraft  sealed  the  doom  of  the  accused  at  once,  for 
the  Witch-Hammer  declares:  "The  greatest  heresy  is 
not  to  believe  in  witchcraft ' '  {haeresis  est  maxima  opera 
malcficartim  non  credere) .  However,  if  the  accused 
affirmed  the  question,  the  tortures  made  him  confess  all 
that  he  knew  about  it  and  whether  or  not  he  had  learned 
and  practised  the  black  art.  To  plead  ignorance  would 
not  avail,  for  the  very  refusal  of  a  confession  was  counted 
a  crime  under  the  name  nialeficium  iacituyuitaiis.  There 
was  no  escape,  and  the  best  course  for  the  victim  ou  the 
rack  was  to  confess  all  at  once  without  a  relapse  into 
denials,  for  that  at  least  abbreviated  the  procedure  and 
ended  the  tragedy  without  its  incidental  terrors.  As  a 
rule  the  prisoners  of  the  inquisition  ask  for  death  as  a 
boon  and  wherever  possible  commit  suicide ;  for  torture 
made  of  every  one  a  hopeless  cripple  unfit  for  either  work 
or  enjoyment  of  life,  even  though  he  might  be  released. 
Acquittals,  however,  were  rare  and  the  Witcli-Hammer 
advises  the  inquisitors  never  to  acquit,  but  only  tem- 
porarily to  stop  proceedings.  A  nolle  pros  was  recom- 
mended as  the  safer  way.  The  culprit  should  be  handed 
over  to  the  secular  authorities  for  capital  punishment, 
especially  if  the  sentence  of  being  burned  alive  was 
mitigated  to  decapitation,*  a  penalty  which  the  Church 
avoided  inflicting ;  for  ' '  the  Church  thirsts  not  for  blood ' ' 
{ecclesia  non  sitit  sangidnent) .  A  confessor  and  even  the 
judge  himself  is  advised  to  speak  in  private  with  the  pris- 


*  "  Saecularem  curiam  affectuose  deprecamur  qiiateuus  citra  sanguinis  eflu- 
sionem  et  mortis  periculum  suam  sententiam  moderatur,"  was  the  usual  clause 
when  the  inquisition  handed  their  victims  over  to  the  secular  authorities. 


THE  INQUISITION.  325 

oner  and  upon  tlie  promise  of  pardon  and  mercy  to  ex- 
tort a  confession.  The  Witch-Hammer  suggests  tliat  the 
judge  may  say:  "  *  If  you  confess,  I  shall  not  condemn 
you  to  death,'  for  he  may  at  any  time  call  in  another 
judge  to  take  his  place,  who  is  at  liberty  to  pronounce 
the  sentence." 

The  victims  of  the  Inquisition  were  practically  with- 
out any  assistance,  for  witchcraft  was  regarded  as  an  ex- 
ceptional crime  [cn'iuni  atrocissimum  and  crimen  excep- 
tum)  for  which  the  usual  rules  of  procedure  were  not 
binding.  It  belonged  before  the  secular  and  also  the  ec- 
clesiastical tribunal  {crimen  fori  7nixti) .  The  culprit 
must  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  maxim  of  Pope  Boni- 
face VIII.  (1294-1303),  "simply  and  squarely,  without 
the  noise  and  form  of  lawyers  and  judges."* 

To  us  who  live  in  an  age  of  calmer  thought  and  more 
exact  investigation,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the 
Witch-Hammer  could  ever  have  been  believed. 

The   Torture. 

Witch-prosecution  appears  to  us  as  rascality  pure 
and  simple,  but  it  was  not.  It  was  the  result  of  a  firm 
and  deep-seated  religious  conviction,  as  may  be  learned 
froin  the  Antipalits  malejicionim^  a  work  of  John  Trithe- 
mius,  Abbot  of  the  Monastery  of  Spongheim  (1442- 
1516) ,  who  at  the  request  of  Joachim,  Markgrave  of 
Brandenburg,  investigated  the  subject,  and  after  years  of 
conscientious  study  presented  to  the  world  his  views  in  a 

*"SimpUciter  et  de  piano,  absque  advocatorum  et  judiciorum  strepitu  et 
figura, " — a  phrase,  which,  as  we  saw,  was  almost  literally  repeated  by  Pope  Euge- 
nius  IV. 


326  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

book  of  four  volumes,  whicli  was  completed  October  16, 
•  in  the  year  1508,  when  the  pious  abbot  had  reached  the 
mature  age  of  sixty-six  years. 

Trithemius  distinguishes  four  classes  of  wizards  and 
witches:  (1)  Those  who  hurt  and  kill  others  through 
poison  and  other  natural  means.  (2)  Those  who  injure 
others  by  the  art  of  magic  formulas.  (3)  Those  who 
converse  with  the  Devil  personally.  (4)  Those  who  have 
actually  concluded  a  contract  with  the  Devil  and  have 
thus  procured  his  assistance  for  evil  designs.  Trithemius 
believes  that  there  is  no  other  way  of  protecting  the  com- 
monwealth against  the  obnoxious  influence  of  these  mal- 
efactors than  by  extirpating  them,  but  best  by  burning 
them  alive.      He  says  : 

"  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  the  number  of  witches  in  all  coun- 
tries is  very  great,  for  indeed  there  is  not  a  village,  be  it  ever  so 
small,  which  does  not  harbor  at  least  one  of  the  third  and  of  the 
fourth  class.  But  how  rare  are  the  judges  who  punish  these  crimes 
against  God  and  nature." 

And  in  another  passage  the  abbot  utters  the  com- 
plaint : 

"Men  and  animals  die  through  the  infamy  of  these  women, 
and  none  considers  that  it  is  due  to  the  malignity  of  witchcraft. 
There  are  many  who  suffer  from  serious  diseases  and  do  not  even 

know  that  they  are  bewitched." 

The  great  dangers  of  witchcraft  seemed  to  demand 
extraordinary  means  for  combating  its  evils ;  and  thus 
the  torture,  which  had  formerly  been  applied  only  in  ex- 
ceptional and  special  cases,  began  to  be  developed  in  a 
most  formidable  and  l)arbaric  way. 

Suspected  persons  were  subjected  to  fire  and  water 


THE  INQUISITION. 


327 


ordeals,  but  the  latter  test  was  ])referred ;   and  this  is  the 
reason,  as  we  read  in  Konig's  work  on  the  subject: 

"A  case  is  known 
in  which  the  ac- 
cused person  suc- 
cessfully passed 
through  the  fire  or- 
deal. It  happened 
immediately  before 
the  appearance  of 
the  Witch-Hammer. 
In  the  archives  of 
Donau  -  Eschingen 
there  is  a  docu- 
ment according  to 
which  a  certain 
Anna  Henne  from 
Rothenbach,  in  the 
Black  Forest,  in 
1485,  cleared  her- 
self of  the  suspi- 
cion of  witchcraft 
by  carrying  a  hot 
iron." 

Concerning 
the  water  ordeal 
the  same  author 
says : 

"  Tlie  water 
ordeal  is  ver)'  old. 
Ludwig,  the  Pious, 
abolished     it,     but  The  Water  Ordeal. 

Hinkmar  of  Rheims  defended  its  practice.      In   the   times  of  Bern- 
hard  of  Clairvaux,  it  was  used  against  the  Manichees.      Pope  Inno- 


328  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

cent  III.  again  abolished  it  in  the  Lateran  Council,  1215.  The 
famous  law  book,  The  Saxon  Mirror,  written  bj'  Eike  von  Repkow, 
in  the  year  1230,  provides  that  if  two  men  lay  claim  to  the  same 
thing  and  the  neighbors  can  bear  no  witness,  the  water- ordeal  shall 
decide. " 

The  Mirror  of  the  Swabians^  also  of  tlie  thirteentli 
century,  contains  the  same  proposition.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  the  practice  was  almost  universally  established. 
As  to  the  underlying  idea,  Konig  says : 

"There  are  opposite  views  applied  to  the  ordeal  of  water. 
According  to  the  one,  the  question  was  how  long  the  accused  could 
remain  under  water  ;  according  to  the  other  the  innocence  of  the 
accused  was  proved  by  sinking,  the  guilt  by  swimming.  In  both 
cases,  the  view  prevailed  that  witches  possessed  a  specific  levity, 
and  the  rule  was  adopted  that  'The  water  refused  to  receive  in  its 
depths  those  who  had  shaken  off  the  baptismal  water  through  a  re- 
nunciation of  their  faith.'  "  {Ausgeb.  d.  Menschenwahns,  pp.  100  ff.) 

Who  can  contemplate  without  indignation  and  holy 
wrath  the  instruments  of  torture  used  by  inquisitors  in 
their  infamous  vocation?  There  are  thumbscrews,  there 
are  blacksmith's  tongs  and  pincers  to  tear  out  the  finger- 
nails or  to  be  used  red-hot  for  pinching;  there  is  the 
rack,  Spanish  boots,  collars,  chains,  etc.,  there  are  boards 
and  rollers  covered  with  sharp  spikes  ;  there  is  the  ' '  Scav- 
enger's Daughter,"  also  the  "Iron  Virgin,"  a  hollow  in- 
strument the  size  and  figure  of  a  woman,  with  knives 
inside  which  are  so  arranged  that,  when  closing,  the  vic- 
tim would  be  lacerated  in  its  deadly  embrace. 

Incredible  ingenuity  was  displayed  in  the  invention 
of  these  instruments  of  torture ;  and  one  of  the  execu- 
tioner's swords,  which  still  hangs  in  the  Torturers'  Vault 
at  Nuremberg  on  the  left  side  of  the  entrance,  exhibits 


THE  INQUISITION. 


329 


o 


330  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

in  bad  Latin  the  blasphemous  inscription,  '''Solo  Deo 
Gloria  r''' 

The  hangmen  took  pride  in  their  profession  and  re- 
garded themselves  as  disgraced  if  they  could  not  make 
their  victims  confess  whatever  the  inquisitors  wanted. 
Their  usual  threat,  when  a  heretic,  a  wizard,  or  a  witch 
was  handed  over  to  them ,  was :  ' '  You  will  be  tortured 
until  you  are  so  thin  that  the  sun  will  shine  through 
you."  The  instruments  look  horrible  enough,  but  the 
practice  was  more  horrible  than  the  wildest  imagination 
can  depict. 

Before  the  torture  began,  the  accused  were  forced  to 
drink  the  witch-broth,  a  disgusting  concoction  mixed 
with  the  ashes  of  burnt  witches,  and  supposed  to  protect 
the  torturers  against  the  evil  influence  of  witchcraft. 
The  filtht  of  the  dungeons  was  a  very  effective  means  of 
making  the  prisoner  despondent  and  preparing  him  for 
any  confession  upon  which  he  could  be  condemned.  He 
was  frequently  secured  by  iron  manacles  fixed  in  the  wall 
or  placed  under  heavy  timbers  which  prevented  the  free 
use  of  his  limbs,  rendering  him  a  helpless  prey  to  rats, 
mice,   and  vermin  of  all  sorts. 

Consider  only  the  fiendish  details  of  the  torture  ap- 
plied to  a  woman  in  the  year  1631  on  the  first  day  of  her 
trial:  J 

"(i)  The  hangman  binds  the  woman,  who  was  pregnant,  and 
places  her  on  the  rack.    Then  he  racked  her  till  her  heart  would  fain 

*It  ought  to  be  Soli  Deo  Gloria. 

\  Carceris  squalores  is  the  expression  used  by  the  author  of  the  Witch- 
Hammer. 

^Translated  from  KSnig,  .lusgehurteyi  dcs  Menschemvahns,  p.  130.  See 
also  Soldan,  Hexcnfi'ocesse.  pp.  269-270. 


THE  INQUISITION.  331 

break,  but  had  no  compassion.  (2)  When  she  did  not  confess,  the 
torture  was  repeated,  the  hangman  tied  her  hands,  cut  off  her  hair, 
poured  brandy  over  her  head  and  burned  it.  (3)  He  placed  sul- 
phur in  her  armpits  and  burned  it.  (4)  Her  hands  were  tied  be- 
hind her,  and  she  was  hauled  up  to  the  ceiling  and  suddenly  dropped 
down.  (5)  This  hauling  up  and  dropping  down  was  repeated  for 
some  hours,  until  the  hangman  and  his  helpers  went  to  dinner. 
(6)  When  they  returned,  the  master-hangman  tied  her  feet  and 
hands  upon  her  back  ;  brandy  was  poured  on  her  back  and  burned. 
(8)  Then  heavy  weights  were  placed  on  her  back  and  she  was 
pulled  up.  (9)  After  this  she  was  again  stretched  on  the  rack. 
(10)  A  spiked  board  is  placed  on  her  back,  and  she  is  again  hauled 
up  to  the  ceiling,  (n)  The  master  again  ties  her  feet  and  hangs 
on  'them  a  block  of  fifty  pounds,  which  makes  her  think  that  her 
heart  will  burst.  (12)  This  proved  insufficient;  therefore  the 
master  unties  her  feet  and  fixes  her  legs  in  a  vise,  tightening  the 
jaws  until  the  blood  oozes  out  at  the  toes.  (13)  Nor  was  this  suffi- 
cient;  therefore  she  was  stretched  and  pinched  again  in  various 
ways.  (14)  Now  the  hangman  of  Dreissigacker  began  the  third 
grade  of  torture.  When  he  placed  her  on  the  bench  and  put  the 
'shirt'  on  her,  he  said  :  '  I  do  not  take  you  for  one,  two,  three,  not 
for  eight  days,  nor  for  a  few  weeks,  but  for  half  a  year  or  a  year, 
for  your  whole  life,  until  you  confess  :  and  if  you  will  not  confess, 
I  shall  torture  you  to  death,  and  you  shall  be  burned  after  all. 
(15)  The  hangman's  son-in-law  hauled  her  up  to  the  ceiling  by  her 
hands.  (16)  The  hangman  of  Dreissigacker  whipped  her  with  a 
horsewhip.  (17)  She  was  placed  in  a  vise  where  she  remained  for 
six  hours.  (18)  After  that  she  was  again  mercilessly  horsewhipped. 
This  was  all  that  was  done  on  the  first  day." 

This  is  not  barbarous,  this  is  not  bestial,  it  is  Sa- 
tanic. And  such  deeds  could  be  done  in  the  name  of 
God,  for  the  sake  of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and  by  the 
command  of  the  highest  authorities  of  the  Christian 
Church ! 


332  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

From  tte  great  number  of  prosecutions  for  witcli- 
craft  we  select  one  instance  only,  which,  however,  is 
neither  t3q:)ical  nor  extraordinar3'  in  its  horrors. 

We  read  in  Konig's  popular  exposition  of  human 
superstitions,*  p.  240 : 

"There  was  a  farmer  by  the  name  of  Veit,  living  in  a  village 
of  Southern  Bohemia.  He  was  famous  for  his  wit  and  unusual 
humor.  At  the  same  time  he  was  phj'sically  strong,  and  whenever 
there  was  a  quarrel  at  the  inn  he  came  off  victor.  The  rumor 
spread  that  he  was  inviolable,  as  sometimes  hunters  are  supposed 
to  be  bullet-proof,  and  Veit  never  denied  it.  By  and  by  he  was 
regarded  as  a  wizard,  and  as  his  cattle  prospered  best  and  his  fields 
yielded  the  richest  crops,  he  was  soon  supposed  to  be  in  league 
with  the  Evil  One.  Now  it  happened  that  the  village  was  troubled 
with  mice,  and  Veit  was  suspected  of  having  caused  the  plague. 
When  questioned  about  it,  he  granted  in  a  moment  of  humor  that 
he  had  sent  the  mice  but  would  soon  drive  them  away  again,  and 
he  promised  to  prove  at  the  next  church- fair  that  he  could  actually 
make  mice.  When  the  day  appointed  came,  the  inn  was  over- 
crowded, and  farmer  Veit  appeared  with  a  big  bag  under  his  arm, 
into  which  he  requested  the  company  to  throw  twenty  pebbles. 
They  did  so  without  noticing  that  the  bag  was  double.  And  while 
one  part  was  empty  the  other  contained  twenty  mice.  When  the 
pebbles  were  put  in  the  bag,  Veit  murmured  a  magic  formula  and 
let  the  mice  loose  in  the  presence  of  his  frightened  audience. 

"This  performance,  however,  had  unexpected  and  tragic  re- 
sults. The  people  were  convinced  that  it  was  the  work  of  hell,  and 
Veit  escaped  with  difficulty  from  the  inn.  Veit  was  arrested  the 
next  night  and  delivered  to  the  criminal  court.  A  mole  on  his 
body  was  thought  to  be  a  stigma  of  the  Devil,  and  all  the  witnesses 
agreed  that  he  was  a  genuine  wizard.  His  case  was  thoroughly  in- 
vestigated, and  even  the  University  of  Prague  was  consulted;  the 
verdict  signed  by  the  Rector  Magnificus  with  his  own  hand  was 

*.lusg^tbti>le>i  des  Mensc/ienzva/ms,  ein  Volksbuch,  Rudolstadt 


THE  INQUISITION.  533 

against  him,  and  Veit,  who  stoutly  maintained  his  innocence,  had 
to  endure  all  the  tortures  of  the  inquisition.  At  last  he  was  burned 
alive  and  the  ashes  of  his  body  were  thrown  to  the  winds.  We 
read  in  the  records  of  the  law-suit  that  Veit  mounted  the  stake 
'without  showing  repentance  or  doing  penance.'  And  when  chains 
were  put  on  his  neck,  around  his  body,  and  around  his  feet,  he 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  'My  God,  I  die  innocently.'  Judges,  pro- 
fessors, physicians,  and  theologians  agreed  unanimously  in  the  con- 
viction of  this  innocent  man." 

Volumes  might  be  filled  with  accounts  of  the  many 
thousand  various  instances  of  witch-prosecutions,  and 
every  single  case  is  so  soul-harrowing  that  we  prefer  to 
pass  them  by  in  silence.  The  accusations  are  almost 
always  very  circumstantial  and  definite,  mostly  of  brutal 
indecency  and  ridiculously  impossible. 

The  Angel  of  Aitgsbnrg. 

Witch-prosecution  was  a  convenient  weapon  in  the 
hands  of  unscrupulous  men  for  accomplishing  crooked 
ends  or  satisfying  some  private  vengeance.  One  of  the 
most  tragic  and  pathetic  cases  is  the  sad  death  of  Agnes 
Bernauer,  a  beautiful  woman,  the  daughter  of  a  barber 
and  tlie  sweetheart  of  Albrecht,  Duke  of  Bavaria. 

Agnes  was  bom  about  1410  in  Biberach,  and  it  ap- 
pears that  she  was  a  mere  servant  girl  in  Augsburg  at 
the  time  Duke  Albrecht  of  Wiirtemberg,  the  son  of  Duke 
Ernest,  made  her  acquaintance.  The  story  that  Agnes 
was  of  patrician  birth  and  that  the  lovers  met  at  the  great 
tournament  is  mere  legend,  but  this  much  is  sure  that 
Agnes  was  extraordinarily  beautiful,  with  golden  hair, 
and  delicate,  noble  features.  Even  her  enemies  could 
not  help  praising  the  nobility  of  her  appearance.     We 


334  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

know  little  or  nothing  about  the  relations  between  Duke 
Albrecht  and  Agnes,  except  that  he  courted  her  and  took 
her  with  him  to  his  residence  in  the  Count}^  Vohnburg. 

Duke  Ernest,  Albrecht's  father,  knew  about  Agnes's 
presence  at  Vohnburg  but  he  cared  little,  until  he  became 
anxious  about  having  a  legal  heir  to  his  duchy.  Then 
he  requested  his  son  to  marry  the  daughter  of  Duke  Erik 
of  Brunswick,  but  Albrecht  refused  on  account  of  the  love 
he  bore  to  Agnes. 

When  persuasion  appeared  to  be  without  avail,  Duke 
Ernest  thought  of  other  means  to  separate  his  son  from 
the  lowlj'-born  maiden.  At  a  public  tournament,  he  or- 
dered the  judges  to  refuse  admittance  to  Albrecht  on  the 
ground  that  for  the  sake  of  a  concubine  he  neglected  his 
filial  duties.  Albrecht  was  greatlj'  exasperated  and  as 
soon  as  he  returned  to  Vohnburg  he  recognised  Agnes  as 
his  wife.  With  the  consent  of  his  uncle,  Duke  William, 
he  moved  to  the  castle  Straubing,  which  he  donated  to 
her  and  surrounding  her  with  a  ducal  court,  called  her 
henceforth  Duchess  Agnes. 

The  poor  woman  did  not  enjoy  the  splendor  of  the 
court.  She  feared  the  wrath  of  the  old  Duke,  and  built, 
in  a  melancholy  presentiment  of  her  sad  fate,  her  own 
burial  chapel,  in  the  monastery  of  the  Carmelites  at 
Straubing.     Her  happiness  was  of  short  duration. 

In  Albrecht's  absence,  Duke  Ernest  seized  Agnes, 
had  her  imprisoned  and  denounced  her  as  a  witch.  Her 
condemnation  had  been  decided  upon  before  the  trial  be- 
gan, and  the  verdict  pronounced  her  guiltj'  of  having  be- 
witched Duke  Albrecht  and  thus  committed  a  criminal 
offence  against  Duke  Ernest.     The  judgment  ordered  her 


THE  IXyUISITION.  335 

to  be  drowned  in  the  river,  and  Duke  Ernest  si.tJi'ncd   the 
verdict. 

The  hangmen  carried  the  yonntj  woman  to  the  bridge 
at  Straubing  and  thrnst   her,  in  the  presence  of  a  multi- 


Agnes  Bernauer  Drowned  as  a  Witch  at  the  Request  of  Ernest, 
Duke  of  Bavaria. 
Shows  how  the  unscrupulous  availed  themselves  of  the  extraordinary  power  of 
witch  tribunals.      (Woodcut  by  G.  Dietrich.     Reproduced  from  B.  E.  Konig.) 

tude  of  spectators,  into  the  water.   But  the  current  drifted 
her  ashore  and  she  held  up  her  white  arms  appealing  to 


336  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

the  people  for  help.  The  people  were  moved  and  she 
might  have  been  saved,  had  not  one  of  the  hangmen,  fear- 
ing the  wrath  of  the  old  duke,  seized  a  pole  and  catching 
her  long  golden  hair  held  her  under  water  iintil  she  ex- 
pired.'    This  happened  in  the  year  1435. 

She  was  buried  in  St.  Peter's  cemetery  of  Straubing. 

When  the  3^oung  Duke  on  his  return  was  informed 
of  the  terrible  death  of  his  beloved  Agues  he  swore  ven- 
geance, and  in  alliance  with  his  cousin  Duke  Ludwig  of 
Bavaria-Ingolstadt,  began  to  wage  a  vigorous  war  against 
his  own  father.  Through  the  mediation  of  the  Emperor, 
however,  he  was  reconciled  with  his  father  at  the  council 
of  Basel. 

Duke  Ernest  built  a  chapel  over  the  grave  of  his  in- 
nocent victim  and  had  an  annual  mass  read  over  her  for 
the  welfare  of  her  soul.  Duke  Albrecht  thereupon  agreed 
to  marry  Anna,  Princess  of  Brunswick,  by  whom  he  had 
ten  children,  although  it  cannot  be  said  that  his  married 
life  was  a  happy  one. 

In  1447  Duke  Albrecht  had  the  body  of  Agnes  trans- 
ferred to  the  chapel  which  she  had  built  for  herself  in  the 
Carmelite  monastery ;  and  he  had  the  resting-place  of 
her  remains  adorned  with  a  beautiful  marble  image  of 
her  in  full  figure  with  the  simple  inscription : 

"  Obiit  Agnes  Bernauerin.      Requiescat  in  pace." 
Poets  who   have   immortalised   her   name,'''   and   the 

*Folksoog  on  Agnes  die  Pernawerin.  Count  Tcirring  (17S0).  Bottger  {1846), 
Melchior  Meyr  (1862),  Friedrich  Hebbel  (1855),  Otto  Ludwig  (a  posthumous  frag- 
mentary design  of  a  drama  begun  in  1852).  Konig,  Atisgcburtcn  des  Mcnschen- 
ivcihns  recapitulates  the  story  as  the  legend  has  it.  For  a  critical  review  and  an 
exposition  of  the  historical  facts  see  Dr.  Christian  Meyer's  article  on  Agnes  Ber- 
nauer  in  Die  Gartetilaube,  1873,  p   454. 


THE  INQUISITION.  337 

people  of  Bavaria  among  whom  her  memory  is  still  cher- 
ished,  call  her  "the  angel  of  Augsburg." 

One  of  the  most  comical  witch-prosecutions  took 
place  in  1474  against  a  diabolical  rooster  who  had  been 
so  presumptuous  as  to  lay  an  egs^.  The  poor  creature 
was  solemnly  tried,  whereupon  he  was  condemned  to  die 
at  the  stake  and  publicly  burned  by  order  of  the  authori- 
ties of  the  good  city  of  Basel. 

We  abstain  from  entering  further  into  the  details  of 
the  prosecution  of  witches,  which  gradually  developed 
into  a  systematic  business  involving  great  emoluments  to 
judges,  torturers,  hangmen,  inquisitors,  denouncers,  wit- 
nesses, and  all  persons  connected  with  the  process.  It  is 
a  doleful  work  to  go  over  the  mere  statistics  of  the  atitos- 
da-fe^  and  every  single  story  of  a  trial  for  witchcraft  can- 
not but  rouse  our  deepest  indignation ;  and  even  now  the 
belief  in  witchcraft  is  not  yet  extinct  among  the  so-called 
civilised  races  of  mankind. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


THE  Reformation,  although  in  many  respects  a  great 
advance  did  not  introduce  a  sudden  change  in  the 
belief  in  the  Devil.  Nevertheless,  the  tendency  becomes 
more  and  more  apparent  to  interpret  Satan  in  psycho- 
logical terms,  and  instead  of  expecting  him  in  the  horrors 
of  nature  or  in  the  objective  realitj^  of  our  surroundings, 
to"  find  him  in  our  own  hearts  where  he  appears  as  temp- 
tation in  all  forms,  as  allurement,  ambition,  vanity,  as 
the  vain  pursuit  of  fortune,  power,  and  worldly  pleas- 
ures. 

Christiauity  was  split  up  into  two  parties,  the  con- 
servatives who  remained  faithful  to  Rome's  spiritual  su- 
premacy and  the  progressive  Protestants  who  opposed  the 
traditional  authorities  of  the  Church  and  clamored  for  re- 
form in  the  various  ways  of  life.  Restless  times  of  this 
kind  are  favorable  for  satire  and  sarcasm,  and  the  Devil 
therefore  naturally  played  an  important  part  in  the  po- 
lemics on  either  side. 

At  the  same  time,  the  moral  earnestness  of  the  re- 
formers forced  the  authorities  of  the  Church  to  abandon 
many  of  the  worst  misuses,  and  thus  the  reform  of  the 


Letter,  fiihrfnd  *Mr  Krone  des  Leben.v 


Satanic  Temptations  and  the  Ladder  of  Life.* 
Reproduced  from  Heradis  von  Lansperg's  llortus  DfUciarum. 


*The  HortKS  Dc/itiariim  was  written  in  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century 
for  the  edification  of  monks,  and  the  present  picture  illustrates  the  various  tempta- 
tions which  lure  them  away  from  the  crown  of  life  :  city  life  and  precious  garments; 
or  the  military  power  of  abbots  in  monasteries  with  its  worldly  comforts ;  further 
money,  the  couch  of  laziness,  the  joy  of  gardening. 


340 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Reformation  did  not  remain  limited  to  the  reformed 
Churcties,  but  extended  its  blessings  to  the  Roman 
Church  itself.  The  anti-reformation,  whose  backbone 
was  the  Jesuits,  was  a  most  serious  and  rigorously  pure 
movement  born  of  a  deep  religious  piety ;  but  it  was 
darkened  in  its  very  start  by  a  mysticism  verging  on 
coarse  superstition,  and  lacked  that  love  of  freedom,  of 


Calvinism  Tearing  Down  the  Roman  Empire. 
Roman  Catholic  burlesque  of  the  seventeenth  century.* 

progress,   of    scientific   investigation,   and  the    desire    to 
learn  the  truth  which  characterises  the  exponents  of  Prot- 

■•■'The  building  representing  the  Empire  bears  the  inscription  "The  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  The  German  princes  of  the  Reformed  Faith  are 
pictured  in  effigy  in  the  company  of  devils.  The  Count  Palatine  Frederick  V,  son- 
in-law  of  the  King  of  England,  who  had  just  lost  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  is  seen 
falling  down.  On  the  right-hand  the  Prince  Elector  of  Saxony,  a  Lutheran,  and  on 
the  left  hand  the  city  of  Venice  are  represented  as  refusing  to  join  the  Calvinists. 
The  picture  purports  to  elucidate  to  the  common  man  what  scholars  can  learn  by 
studying  scripture, 

"Was  Glerte  durch  die  Schrift  verstahn. 
Das  lehrt  das  Gmahl  den  gmaiupn  Mann." 


THE  AGK  OV  THK  RKKORMATION. 


341 


■estantism.  It  is  noticeable,  however,  tliiit  the  moral  ele- 
ment is  pushed  into  the  fore.uronnd,  and  both  jsarties 
begin  to  a.s^ree  in  tliis  that  morality  is  the  nltimate  test 
of   religion. 


The  Kingdom  of  Satan  ok  the  Seven-heaued  Ueast  of  the  Revelation. 

A  Protestant  caricature  of  the  papal  trade  in  dispensations.     (From  a  Flugblatt 

ai  the  sixteenth  century.      Henne  am  Rhyn.) 

The  idea  of  conceiving  Satan  as  sin  and  temptation 
is  not  new  (think  only  of  the  illustrations  in  the  Hortus 
Dcliciant)ii\  .  but  the   conception   of  sin  and  temptation 


342  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


begins  now  to  be  better  understood  as   a  psychological 
condition  of  subiective  states. 


LiitJier. 

Lutber  was,  in  bis  demonology,  a  real  cbild  of  bis 
time;  be  saw  the  Devil  everywhere,  be  struggled  with 
him  constantly,  and  overcame  him  by  bis  confidence  in 
God.  He  regarded  the  Pope  as  an  incarnation  of  Satan, 
or  as  the  Anti-Christ,  and  the  Roman  Church  as  the 
kingdom  of  the  Devil.      He  sang  of  him  : 

"And  were  this  world  with  devils  filled 
That  threaten  to  undo  us  ; 
We  will  not  fear,  for  God  hath  willed 
His  truth  to  triumph  through  us. 
Our  ancient  vicious  foe 
Still  seeks  to  work  his  woe. 
His  craft  and  power  are  great 
And  armed  with  cruel  hate. 
On  earth  is  not  his  equal. 

"The  Prince  of  this  world 
His  banner  has  unfurled  ; 
And  yet  he  will  harm  none 
For  he  is  all  undone  ; 
One  little  word  defeats  him." 

The  Devil  was  to  Luther  a  real,  living  power,  a  con- 
crete personality,  and  be  used  to  characterise  him  as  the 
good  Lord's  hangman,  and  the  instrument  of  his  anger 
and  punishment.*  God  needs  the  Devil  for  a  servant  and 
utilises  his  malignity  for  the  procreation  of  the  good  (x, 
1259) . 

*Walch,   Tischreden,  v,  839;  v,  1109;  viii,  123,,   x.  1257;  xii,  481,  and  2043. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  343 

Luther's  belief  in  the  Devil  was  not  only  very  realis- 
tic but  also  almost  childishly  ingenuous.  When  at  work 
he  was  prepared  for  his  incessant  interference,  and  when 
going  to  rest  he  expected  to  be  disturbed  by  him.  Luther 
was  not  afraid  of  him,  yet  the  efforts  he  made  in  conquer- 
ing the  Evil  One  are  sufficient  evidence  that  he  regarded 
him  as  ver}'  powerful.  He  protested  he  would  go  to 
Worms  though  every  tile  on  the  roofs  of  the  city  were  a 
Devil ;  he  saw  the  fiend  gi^inning  at  him  while  he  trans- 
lated the  Bible,  and  threw  his  inkstand  at  his  Satanic 
Majesty.  ^-^ 

By  and  by  the  familiarity  between  Luther  and  the 
Devil  increased:  "  Early  this  morning,"  Luther  tells  us 
in  his  Tischreden^  "when  I  awoke  the  fiend  came  and  be- 
gan disputing  with  me.  '  Thou  art  a  great  sinner,'  said  he. 
I  replied,  'Canst  not  tell  me  something  new,  Satan?'" 

Luther  was  inclined  to  believe  in  the  Devil's  power 
of  assisting  wizards  and  witches  in  their  evil  designs. 
Following  St.  Augustine's  authority  he  conceded  the  pos- 
sibility of  inctibi  and  succubi^  because  Satan,  in  the  shape 
of  a  handsome  young  man,  loves  to  decoy  young  girls. 
He  also  accepted  the  superstition  of  changelings  and  de- 
clared that  witches  should  suffer  death ;  but  when  once 
confronted  with  a  real  case,  he  insisted,  when  his  counsel 
was  sought,  on  the  most  scrupulous  circumspection.  He 
wrote  to  the  judge : 

"  I  request  you  to  explore  everything  with  exactness  so  as  to 
leave  no  trace  of  fraud  .  .  .  for  I  have  experienced  so  many  deceits, 

*  The  story  has  been  doubted,  yet.  considering  the  character  of  Luther,  it  is 
not  only  possible  but  probable.  If  Luther  did  not  throw  the  inkstand  at  the  Devil, 
the  anecdote  is,  to  say  the  least,  ben  trovato:  it  characterises  excellently  his  atti- 
tude toward  Satan 


344 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIE. 


frauds,  artifices,  lies,  treacheries,  etc.,  that  I  can  scarcely  make  up 
my  mind  to  believe.  Therefore  see  and  convince  yourself  to  your 
own  satisfaction,  lest  you  be  mistaken  and  I  mav  be  mistaken 
through  you."* 

Although  it  i.s  true  that  Luther's  views  of  the  Devil 
were  as  childish  as  those  of  his  contemporaries,  it  would 
be  rash  to  denounce  the  Reformation  for  having  accom- 
plished no  progress  and  having  done  nothing  to  suppress 
the    barbarous    superstitions    of    demonology.     Luther's 

God-conception  was  purer 
and  nobler  than  the  God- 
conception  of  the  leading 
churchmen  and  popes  of 
his  time,  and  thus  his  faith, 
in  spite  of  its  crudities, 
led,  after  all,  to  purer  con- 
ceptions, which  were  des- 
tined gradually  to  over- 
come the  old  traditional 
dualism. 

Luther  demanded  that 
Christ  should  not  only  be 
recognised  as  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  but  that  every  man 
should  be  able  to  say,  "He  has  come  to  save  me  person- 
ally and  individually."  Luther  thus  carried  the  religious 
life  into  the  very  hearts  of  men  and  declared  that  there 
was  no  salvation   in   ceremonies,    absolutions,    or  sacra- 

*  ArifriH  Aiiiialis  Marchia  Braiidcnbuigicec,   p.  326   (quoted   by   Soldan,  [i 
302).     The  original  reads:  "  Rogo  te,  omnia  velis  certissime  explorare,  ne  subit 
aliquid  doli.  .  .  .  Nam  ego  tot  fucis,  dolis,  technis.  mendaciis,  artibus,  etc.,  hactenus 
sum  exagitatus  ut  cogar  difficilis  esse  ad  credendum.  Quare  vide  et  prospice 

tibi  quoque  ne  fallare  ct  ego  per  te  fallar 


Temptation.     A  Protestant  Concep- 
tion OF  Evil. 
German  woodcut  of  the  time  of  Luther. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


345 


ments ;  unless  one  had  individually,  in  one's  own  nature 
and  being,  vanquished  the  temptations  of  Satan.  The 
most  dangerous  idols  are,  according  to  Luther,  the  pulpit 
and  the  altar,  for  sacraments  and  ceremonies  cannot  save. 
They  are  symbols  instituted  to  assist  us.  Those  who  be- 
lieve that  ceremonies  possess  any  power  of  their  own  are 
still  under  the  influence  of  the  pagan  notion  that  evils 
can  be  averted  bv  sacrifices  and  exorcisms. 


The  Race  for  Fortune. 
A  modern  illustration  of  the  conception  of  evil.    A  development  of  the  idea  rep- 
resented in  the  woodcut  on  the  opposite  page.   (After  Henneberg's  oil  painting.) 


Litthey\^  Successors. 

While  Luther  instinctively  abhorred  persecutions  of 
any  kind,  he  still  retained  those  beliefs  which  were  the 
ultimate  cause  of  witch  prosecution.  \\'e  must,  therefore, 
not  be  astonished  to  see  even  in  Protestant  countries  a 
revival  of  the  horrors  which  had  been  inaugurated  by  the 
Inquisition. 

The  most  curious  work  of  Protestant  demonology  is 
tte    Theatrion   Diabo/ontin   by  Sigmund   Fe^-erabend,  a 


346 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


,a&urattb(r'mrFi-«'<i»ft"  «fl.w»*»l>l>*irttnt 


voluminous  collection  of  the  orthodox  views  of  Luther's 
followers  concerning  the  existence,  power,  natui'e,  and 
demeanor  of  devils. 

Luther's  belief  in  the  Devil  was  crude,  but  he  was 
even  here  morally  great,  strong  in  his  religious  senti- 
ment, and  serious  in  his  demand  that  every  one  person- 
alh^  should  honestly  wage  a  war  with  the  powers  of  evil, 

and  that  no  church,  no 
intercession  of  saints,  no 
formulas  or  rituals  had 
any  saving  power.  Lu- 
ther's followers  retain  all 
the  crudities  of  their  mas- 
ter and  to  some  extent 
his  moral  seriousness,  but 
they  fall  below  the  manli- 
ness of  his  spirit. 

Feyerabend's  Tlica Irian 
Diabolorum^  "which,"  as 
the  title  says,  "  is  a  useful 
and  sensible  book,"  con- 
tains a  great  number  of  es- 
say's written  hy  such  prom- 
inent little  authorities  as 
Jodocus  Hoc;kerus  Qsna- 
burgensis,  Hermannus  Hamelmannus,  Andreas  Musculus, 
Andreas  Fabricius  Chemnicensis,  Ludovicus  Milichius, 
and  others.  The  Reverend  Hocker  explains  in  forty-eight 
chapters  almost  all  possible  problems  connected  witli  dev- 
ils whose  number  in  Chapter  VIII.  is,  according  to  Borr- 
haus,  calculated  to  be  not  less   than   2,665,866,746,664. 


The  Devil  of  Unchastity. 
German  woodcut,  illustrating  the  sub- 
jectivity of  the  conception  of  Satan. 

(Time  of  the  Reformation.) 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


347 


Others  describe  special  kinds  of  devils,  stich  as  the  devil 
of  blasphemy,  VI;  the  dance-devil,  VII;  the  servant's 
devil,  VIII;  the  hunting  devil,  IX;  the  drink-devil,  X; 
the  wedlock-devil,  XI ;  the  devil  of  unchastity,  XII ;  the 
miser's  devil,  XIII;  the  devil  of  tyranny,  XIV;  the 
laziness  devil,  XV;  the  pride  devil,  XVI;  the  pantaloon 
devil,  XVII;  the  gambling  devil,  XVIII;  the  courtier's 
devil  (repi-esented  in  a  drama  of  five  acts,  the  scene  being 


fJM  


The  Devil  of  Niggardliness  Making     The  Latest  Fad  in  Clothes  Pilloried. 
THE  Miser  HARO-HEARTEn,  (From  Sigismund  Feyerabend's 

(By  Hans  Holbein.)  Thca(riim  Diabolonan) 

at  the  court  of  Darius) ,  XIX ;  and  the  pestilence  devil, 
XX.  The  author  of  this  last  chapter,  the  Rev.  Hermann 
Strack,  concludes  by  saying:  "When  we  can  obtain 
medicine  let  us  not  have  a  contempt  for  God's  valuable 
gifts,  but  withal  let  us  always  and  all  the  time  rest  our 
confidence  and  main  comfort  upon  the  only  God." 

The  same  conception  of  the  Devil  is  presented  with 
somewhat  more  poetical  skill  by  Jacob  Ruffs  who  drama- 


348 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


tised  tlie  story  of  Job  and  the  parable  of  the  vineyard. 
The  latter,  which  was  performed  at  Ziirich,  Switzerland, 
in  1539,  May  26,  introduces  Satan  as  he  sows  the  seeds 
of  sedition  in  the  minds  of  the  servants  of  the  vineyard 
and  induces  them  to  slay  the  son  of  their  master. 


I.  SATAN,  ATTIRED  AS  A  BISHOP.  SLAVS  THE 

PREACHER  ZACHARIJAH  WITH  THE 

ASSISTANCE  OF  THE  COOK- 


3.   THE  SON  !S  SLAIN. 


2.  satan  appears  in  disguise  at  the     4.  satan  announces  the  death  of  the 
vintage.  son  at  the  mouth  of  hell. 

Scenes  from  M.  Jacob  Ruff's  Religious  Drama  "  Von  dess  herren  Wingarten 
EiN  huipsch  nuiw  spil  gezogen  usz  Matheo  am  21,  Marco  am  12,  Luca  am 
20  Capitel   "     (Performed  at  Zurich,  1539  A.  D..  on  May  26.)* 

Almost  all  these  treatises,  poor  though  they  may  be 
as  literary,  theological,  or  pastoral  exhortations,  3'et  show 
the  rationalistic  tendency  of  discovering  the  Devil  in  the 
vices  of  man,  and  this  method  became  more  and   more 

*  From  Ki-innecke  after  contemporaneous  illustrations. 


THK  AGE  OK  Tin-;  RHl'ORilATlON. 


349 


Macbeth  Consulting  the  Witches. 


350  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

establislied  until  in  these  latter  days  Satan  himself  was 
boldly  and  directly  by  Protestant  theologians  declared  to 
be  a  mere  abstract  idea  and  a  personification  of  evil.  Yet 
this  step  was  not  taken  at  once,  and  mankind  had  to  pass 
first  through  a  long  period  of  wavering  opinions,  of  con- 
flicting propositions,  uncertainties,  venomous  controver- 
sies, and  anxious  research  for  the  truth. 

Shakespeare. 

The  Protestant  Devil  became  somewhat  more  cul- 
tured than  the  Catholic  Devil,  for  the  advancement  no- 
ticeable in  the  civilisation  of  Protestant  countries  ex- 
tended also  to  him.     Says  Mephistopheles  in  Faust: 

"Culture  which  smooth  the  whole  world  licks 
Also  unto  the  Devil  sticks." 

To  note  the  progress,  let  us  compare  Wyntoun  Avho  wrote 
early  in  the  fifteenth  century  and  Shakespeare.  Wyn- 
toun's  witches  are  ugly,  old  hags ;  Shakespeare's,  al- 
though by  no  means  beautiful,  are  3^et  interesting  and 
poetical ;  they  are  "  so  withered  and  so  wild  in  their  attire 
that  look  not  like  the  inhabitants  o'  th'  earth  and  yet  are 
on  it."  It  is  a  poetical  fiction  repi-esenting  temptation. 
And  in  this  same  sense  the  very  word  Devil  is  fi'equently 
used  by  Shakespeare.  We  are  told,  "'tis  the  eye  of 
childhood  that  fears  a  painted  Devil,"  and  one  fiend,  as 
we  read  in  Shakespeare,  is  the  invisible  spirit  of  wine. 
"The  Devil,"  we  read  in  Hamlet,  "hath  ]jower  to  as- 
sume a  pleasing  shape."  And  the  meaning  of  this  sen- 
tence is  plainly  psychological,  as  we  learn  from  another 
passage  in  which  Pohmius  says  to  his  daughter : 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  351 

"With  devotion's  visage 
And  pious  action  we  do  sugar  o'er 
The  Devil  himself." 

Milton. 

The  Protestant  Devil,  as  a  poetical  figure,  received 
his  finishing  touches  from  Milton.  i\nd  Milton's  Devil 
acquires  a  nobility  of  soul,  moral  strength,  independence, 
and  manliness  which  none  of  his  ancestors  possessed, 
neither  Satan,  nor  Azazel,  nor  his  proud  cousins  the 
Egyptian  Typhon  and  the  Persian  Ahriman.  The  best 
characterisation  of  Milton's  Satan  is  given  by  Taine.  He 
ridicules  Milton's  description  of  Adam  and  Eve,  who  talk 
like  a  married  couple  of  the  poet's  days.  "I  listen,  and 
hear  an  English  household,  two  reasoners  of  the  period — 
Colonel  Hutchinson  and  his  wife.  Heavens  !  Dress  them  ! 
Folk  so  cultivated  should  have  invented  first  of  all  a  pair 
of  trousers."  The  picture  of  the  Good  Lord  is  still  more 
severely  criticised.  He  says  :  "  What  a  contrast  between 
God  and  Satan !  ' '     Taine  continues  : 

"Milton's  Jehovah  is  a  grave  king  who  maintains  a  suitable 
state,  something  like  Charles  I. 

"Goethe's  God,  half  abstraction,  half  legend,  source  of  calm 
oracles,  a  vision  just  beheld  after  a  pyramid  of  ecstatic  strophes, 
greatly  excels  this  Miltonic  God,  a  business  man,  a  schoolmaster, 
a  man  for  show!  I  honor  him  too  much  in  giving  him  these  titles. 
He  deserves  a  worse  name. 

"He  also  talks  like  a  drill-sergeant.  'Vanguard  to  right  and 
left  the  front  unfold.'  He  makes  quips  as  clumsy  as  those  of  Har- 
rison, the  former  butcher  turned  ofScer.  What  a  heaven  !  It  is 
enough  to  disgust  one  with  Paradise  ;  one  would  rather  enter 
Charles  the  First's  troop  of  lackeys,  or  Cromwell's  Ironsides.      We 


352  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

have  orders  of  the  day,  a  hierarchy,  exact  submission,  extra  duties, 
disputes,  regulated  ceremonials,  prostrations,  etiquette,  furbished 
arms,  arsenals,  depots  of  chariots  and  ammunition." 

How  different  is  the  abode  of  Satan.      Taine  says: 

"The  finest  thing  in  connexion  with  this  Paradise  is  Hell. 
"Dante's  hell  is  but  a  hall  of  tortures,  whose  cells,  one  below 
another,  descend  to  the  deepest  wells." 

Milton's  hell  is  the  asylum  of  independence ;  it  may 
be  dreary  but  it  is  the  home  of  liberty  that  scorns  abject 
servility.      Alilton  describes  the  place  as  follows: 

"  'Is  this  the  region,  this  the  soil,  the  clime,' 
Said  then  the  last  Archangel,  'this  the  seat 
That  we  must  change  for  heaven?  this  mournful  gloom 
For  that  celestial  light?     Be  it  so,  since  he, 
Who  now  is  Sovran,  can  dispose  and  bid 
What  shall  be  right  :   farthest  from  him  is  best, 
Whom  reason  has  equal'd,  force  hath  made  supreme 
Above  his  equals.      Farewell,  happy  fields. 
Where  joy  for  ever  dwells  !     Hail,  horrors  .   hail. 
Infernal  world  !  and  thou,  profoundest  hell 
Receive  thy  new  possessor  ;  one  who  brings 
A  mind  not  to  be  changed  by  place  or  time. 
The  mind  is  its  own  place,  and  in  itself 
Can  make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a  hell  of  heaven. 
What  matter  where,  if  I  be  still  the  same, 
And  what  I  should  be  ;  all  but  less  than  he 
Whom  thunder  hath  made  greater  ?     Here  at  least 
We  shall  be  free  ;   the  Almighty  hath  not  built 
Here  for  his  envy  ;  will  not  drive  us  hence  : 
Here  we  may  reign  secv.re  ;  and  in  my  choice 
To  reign  is  worth  ambition,  though  in  hell  : 
Better  to  reign  in  hell,  than  serve  in  heaven.'" 

It  has  been  frecjuently  remarked  that  Ivlilton's  Satan 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  353 

is  the  hero  of  Paradise  Lost.,  and,  indeed,  he  appears  as 
the  most  sympathetic  figure  in  the  greatest  religions  epic 
of  English  literature.  His  pride  is  not  without  self- 
respect  which  we  cannot  help  admiring ;  Satan  exclaims : 

"  Is  there  no  place 
Left  for  repentance,  none  for  pardon  left? 
None  left  but  by  submission  :   and 
That  word  disdain  forbids  me.  ..." 

And  how  noble  appears  Milton's  Satan!  Milton  per- 
sonifies in  Satan  the  spirit  of  the  English  Revolution ; 
Milton's  Satan  represents  the  honor  and  independence  of 
the  nation  asserted  in  the  face  of  an  incapable  govern- 
ment.    Satan's  appearance  shows  strength  and  dignity : 

"  He  above  the  rest 
In  shape  and  gesture  proudly  eminent 
Stood  like  a  tower." 

And  his  character  is  distinguished  by  love  of  liberty. 
Taine  describes  him  as  follows : 

"The  ridiculous  Devil  of  the  Middle  Ages,  a  horned  enchanter, 
a  dirty  jester,  a  petty  and  mischievous  ape,  band-leader  to  a  rabble 
of  old  women,  has  become  a  giant  and  a  hero. 

"Though  feebler  in  force,  he  remains  superior  in  nobility, 
since  he  prefers  suffering  independence  to  happy  servility,  and  wel- 
comes his  defeat  and  his  torments  as  a  glory,  a  liberty,  and  a  joy." 

The  Devil  naturally  acquires  noble  features  which 
make  him  less  diabolical  and  more  divine  in  the  measure 
that  the  God-conception  of  an  age  becomes  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  conservatism  of  the  ruling  classes.  When 
the  name  and  idea  of  God  are  misapplied  to  represent 
stagnation,  Satan  might  change  places  with  God.  A  new 
sect   of    Devil-worshippers  who   aspire    for  advancement 


354 


THE  HISTO-RY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


and  progress  in  the  name  of  Satan  nii^jlit  have  arisen  had 
not  Protestantism,  decried  centuries  ago  as  the  work  of 
the  Devil,  gained  so  much  influence  that  in  time  it  be- 
came itself  a  great  conservative  power  in  the  world ;  and 
that  its  noble  aspirations  were  first  attributed  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Devil  is  only  preserved  in  verse  and  fable. 


The  Natural  State  of  Man. 


The  Holy  Ghost  Illumines  the  Heart. 


Tlie  Dez'il  /;/  the  Iltt/imu  Heart. 

The  common  people  in  Protestant  countries  knew 
nothing  of  the  mighty  hero  of  Paradise  Lost;  they  knew 
Satan  only  through  the  New  Testament,  and,  being  little 
affected  by  the  progress  of  the  natural  sciences,  took  him 
as  seriously  as  did  the  earl}^  Christians  and  the  Domini- 
cans of  the  Inquisition.  But  there  is  this  difference ;  the 
spirit  of  the  Reformation  rested  upon  them  with  both  its 


THK  AGK  OK  THE  REFORMATION. 


355 


moral  earnestness  and  its  subjectivism.  The  middle 
classes  as  a  rule  did  not  fall  a  prey  to  the  aberrations  of 
former  times ;  they  practised  no  exorcisms  and  showed 
no  inclination  to  prosecute,  but  confined  their  endeavors 
to  the  salvation  of  their  own  souls 

The  classical  productions   of  the  literature  of  this 
type  are  Pilffrim^s  Progress  and  The  Heart  of  Man.,  both 


The  Holy  Ghost  in  Possession. 


The  Passion  of  Christ  in  the  Heart 


highly  interesting  from  a  pS3^chological  standpoint,  for 
both,  exhibit  the  subjective  methods  of  introspection  in  a 
high  degree,  and  will,  as  instances  of  a  naive  but  extra- 
ordinary self-observation  and  analysis,  retain  a  lasting 
value. 

While  the  author  of  Pilgrim^ s  Progress.,  his  name 
and  the  vicissitudes  of  his  life,  are  well  known,  The  Hear  I 


356 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


of  Man  appeared  anonymously,  first  in  French  and  then 
in  German.  The  French  original  seems  to  be  lost  and 
with  it  the  date  of  its  first  appearance.  The  first  German 
translation  was  published  in  Wiirzburg,  in  the  year  1732, 
under  the  title  Geistlicher  Sittcnspiegel.  It  was  reprinted 
once  more  in  1815  under  the  more  appropriate  title  Das 
Herz  des  Menschen^  exhibiting  a  series  of   illustrations 


The  Holy  Trinity  Resides  in  the 
Heart. 


New  Temptations. 


which  represent  the  human  heart  as  the  battlefield  of  the 
powers  of  good  and  evil. 

The  first  picture  shows  the  human  heart  in  its  nat- 
ural perversity,  but  the  sinner  repents  in  the  second  pic- 
ture, and  the  Holy  Ghost  takes  possession  of  his  soul,  in 
the  third  picture.  The  fourth  picture  shows  us  a  con- 
templation of  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour  and  tlie  Holy 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  KI'KOKMATION. 


357 


Trinity  resides  in  the  sonl  as  is  illustrated  in  the  fifth 
picture.  But  worldly  temptations  and  ])rosecutions,  re]D- 
resented  the  former  by  a  man  M'ith  a  goblet  and  the  latter 
by  another  man  with  a  dagger,  prevail  upon  the  heart 
and  shake  its  good  resolutions,  which  is  seen  in  the  sixth 
picture ;  until  at  last,  in  the  seventh  picture,  Satan  with 
seven  other  spirits  more  wicked  than  himself  re-enters, 


Satan's  Return  with  Seven  Other       The  Impious  Man  is  Doomed  when  He 
Spirits  More  Wicked  than  Himself.  Dies. 


and  the  last  state  of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  iirst. 
The  practical  application  of  this  analysis  of  the  human 
heart  is  given  in  two  illustrations  picturing  the  death  of 
the  pions  and  impious  man.  The  former,  w-hose  heart  is 
depicted  in  the  ninth  picture,  is  portrayed  in  the  tenth 
picture,  as  being  called  by  the  Saviour  to  enjoy  the  eter- 


358 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


nal  bliss  of  Heaven ;   while  the    eighth  picture  exhibits 
the  doom  of  the  latter  who  is  lost  forever  in  Hell. 

The  interesting  feature  of  these  illustrations  consists 
in  the  method  of  showing  the  elements  of  man's  soul,  his 
passions  and  aspirations  as  foreign  powers  which  enter, 
pass  out,  and  re-enter.  The  heart  itself  appears  as  an 
empty  blank  and  its  character  is  established  by  the  tend- 


A  Heart  Fortified  in  Christ. 


The  Pious  Man  is  Saved  at  Death. 


encies  which  dwell  in  it.  The  psychology  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  the  author's  belief,  is  not  clearly  pro- 
nounced ;  it  ma3^  be  either  the  Brahmanical  theory  of  the 
self,  as  a  being  in  itself,  or  the  Buddhist  doctrine  of  the 
illusoriness  of  the  self,  but  it  appears  that  the  self,  as 
represented  in  the  head  above  the  heart,  is  a  mere  reflex 
of  the  process  that  takes  place  within  the  human  soul, 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  359 

and  should  therefore  be  regarded  merely  as  the  principle 
of  unity,  the  moral  worth  of  which  depends  upon  the  na- 
ture of  its  elements.  The  author  of  these  drawings  has 
in  his  naive  analysis  of  the  human  heart,  approached  a 
scientific  conception  of  the  soul  more  closely  than  pre- 
sumably he  was  aware  of  himself. 

A  Revival  of  Witch  Prosecution. 

At  the  time  of  the  Reformation  witch  prosecution 
ceased  for  a  while.  It  made  room  for  another  mania  not 
less  ugly  and  condemnable.  Its  place  was  filled  by  her- 
esy persecution.  Not  only  did  Roman  Catholic  govern- 
ments worry  their  Protestant  subjects  almost  to  death  by 
confiscating  their  property,  chasing  them  with  hounds  to 
mass,  exiling  entire  districts,  and  ignominiously  execut- 
ing their  leaders ;  but  Protestants  in  their  turn,  too,  re- 
garded it  as  their  religious  duty  to  do  the  same  to  all  dis- 
senters. Luther  himself,  be  it  said  to  his  everlasting 
honor,  did  not  persecute ;  and  so  long  as  he  lived  he  suc- 
ceeded in  preventing  among  his  followers  all  persecu- 
tions. Calvin,  however,  ordered  Servetus  to  be  burned 
alive,  because  his  belief  in  the  trinity  differed  from  his 
own;  and  King  Henry  VIII.  of  England  resolutely  sup- 
pressed with  a  high  hand  all  opposition  to  the  religious 
views  he  happened  to  hold  at  the  time  ;  nor  did  he  shrink 
from  shedding  blood,  although  we  must  grant  that  he 
exercised  much  judgment  by  confining  his  persecution  to 
a  comparatively  few  powerful  opponents. 

While  the  fear  of  witchcraft  was  thus  set  aside  for  a 
time,  the  dangerous  belief  in  the  power  of  Satan  contin- 
ued and  lay  hidden  like  burning  coals  under  ashes.    The 


360  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

religioiis  superstitions  remained  practicalh'  the  same,  and 
it  is  natural  that  the  epidemic  reappeared,  although  in 
a  less  virulent  form.  Even  Protestant  countries  (North 
Germany,  Sweden,  England,  Scotland,  and  the  English 
colonies  in  North  America)  were  visited  by  this  spiritual 
plague,  and  a  number  of  lay  judges  appeared  who  showed 
the  same  zeal  as  the  Dominican  inquisitors  in  Catholic 
countries. 

With  the  waning  of  the  zeal  for  burning  witches  the 
defenders  of  witchcraft  grew  rather  more  numerous  than 
before.  Among  them  are  Dr.  "Thomas  Erastus  of  Heidel- 
berg,* and  Jean  Bodin,  a  Frenchman. t  The  Suffragan 
Bishop  Peter  BinsfeldJ  and  Justice  Nicolaus  Remigius  § 
defended  in  voluminous  books  with  new  arguments  the 
policy  of  the  Witch-Haniiner ^  and  King  James  I.  of  Eng- 
land wrote  a  demonologj^l  filled  with  all  the  superstition 
of  the  Middle  Ages ;  Martin  Delrio,Ti  a  Jesuit,  deems  a 
revision  of  the  laelief  in  Avitchcraft  in  order,  but  co:nes  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  evil  exists  and  that  there  is  no 
remedy  save  the  use  of  relics,  holy  water,  exorcisms,  the 
holy  sacraments  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

The  National  Museum  of  Germanic  Antiquities  at 
Nuremberg  possesses  a  large  poster  which  contains  an 
account  of  three  women  who  were  burned  as  witches  at 
Dernburg  in  the  year   1555.     Although  they  were  not 

* De  Lamiis  ft  stri^ibtis,  1577. 

\Dc  Magorum  dcemonomania  sen  deleslatido  lamiarmn  et  Afagortim  cum 
Satana  commcrcio,  1579. 

\Tractatus  lie  confessionibus  malcficorum  ct  sagarum,  15S9. 

%i)cEmu>iolalria,  which  appeared  in  Latin  and  in  German    See  Soldan,  p.  351. 

\Demonologie,  1597.  See  also  the  advice  to  suppress  witchcraft,  given  to  his 
son  in  the  second  bool«  of  his  Basilicon  Dor  on,  1599. 

*\Disquisitiones  magiccE,  1599. 


THK  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


361 


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cue  vOB  Crli>ct>^>n>^  Qiifft*  ^5aib(r[lat  vDauptmnnB  treybc ffrgtbcn  (juU/  vnOaincni  man  ju  Dtrncburg  aln  Sroilen  *nt<r  Ott  SctnvMkn 
grgrabtn/ftaruon  bfr  man  trlamrt/une  ini  bat  vibe  vmbromtn  i|i. 

C^3ir  libel  man  vran  6(1  ^^JfftU^ai^(mOIlb^i^ni^^■t/v^b(gu^^tJliKrgl<rf^ /trie  Wu}T(rniit(;in*mgifftiembflcblTi(^^ 
romtnbit^^b/inwaiigiagtn/TnCfonvnefoIdjgrfWlidjeiemprlbillicbrayQfnjurbiJIJ/vnbiutfoidjtCoitrt/auffoaetrit^nemitftanw^ 
(Soil«TnBgtbf(t(/ai(>fr6fngfinflUn  f(rn6fdjut3rn/t)nt' map  bite  v;t|ioti ben  fldjctnpoilcfcnif  pitur(rn»nn&  Baubrn-nAPOlrtJnfhnntrunp 
(hn/tiifcP(fl|y(r(bm/tniebfT  Cnjffd  nocbIfbt/^lnebaflOfl|^^^x^lfd;MctDr^od)nU«Io|d)f^i|I/a^<t  3lImf(tiig^£JoixrJlle|l(oud)j[jrbilT'bnn= 
pen/ wO»nBalUinn/iinObfyronfmtajn(ncro:tcttioUfn/Tjnefnktr«'mfnilpJ7lig«ni5ar(?r(gifr(n/auff  flag  irirlcbcrtmnflIlcr'SpItfiUgr«y</ 
jB<btion{)<eibfltlajt/j(i*bicnr(innT)tiayl(g(nnamen/iDurd)'Onran?3(rien3fri"n  iltiii(lum/     21  tH  <t'  n. 

f  0rtrocft  5u  Kdrnbtrg  bey  J^iQ  ttlttitt\Mitd}  valc0  i£nbicc  Scncfcl  25ott<rt. 


Poster  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 


362  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

burned  on  the  same  day,  the  illustration  represents  them 
as  standing  on  the  fagots  together  and  the  statement  is 
made  that  in  one  instance,  when  the  fire  was  lit,  Satan 
appeared  and  visibly  carried  away  his  paramour  through 
the  air. 

The  tragedy  of  Dernburg  is  one  case  only  among 
many.  Mayor  Pheringer,  of  Nordlingen,  swore  to  exter- 
minate the  whole  brood  of  sorcerers,  and  Judge  Benedict 
Carpzov,  Jr.  (1595-1666) ,  of  Leipsic,  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  father,  condemned  more  than  a  hundred 
persons  to  die  at  the  stake  for  witchcraft. 

Sensible  Prelates. 

The  Protestants  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  were  on  the  average  perhaps  more  serious  in 
their  religious  beliefs  than  the  Roman  Catholics  of  the 
same  period,  and  thus  it  happened  that  some  French 
prelates  of  the  Roman  Church,  being  more  worldly  wise 
and  more  deeply  imbued  with  the  advancing  spirit  of  the 
age  than  many  bigoted  Protestants,  displayed  infinitely 
more  common  sense  than  their  brethren  of  the  Reformed 
Churches. 

This  became  particularly  patent  in  the  famous  case 
of  Martha  Brossier,  a  French  peasant  girl,  who,  in  1588, 
claimed  to  be  possessed  of  a  devil.  The  excitement  was 
great,  and  the  pulpits  resounded  with  alarming  denuncia- 
tions apt  to  renew  all  the  terrors  of  former  witch  prosecu- 
tions. But  Bishop  Miron  of  Angers,  and  Cardinal  De 
Gondi,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  retained  their  tranquillity, 
and  had  the  case  investigated  not  only  according  to  a 
truly   rational   method,  but   even   in   a   spirit  of  humor. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  363 

When  the  never-failing  tests  with  exorcisms  through  sa- 
cred books  and  holy  water  were  administered,  Bishop 
Miron  so  arranged  matters  that  the  possessed  girl  was  in- 
duced to  draw  wrong  conclusions,  and  lo!  simple  spring- 
water  and  the  reading  of  a  line  from  Virgil  regularly 
brought  on  epileptic  fits,  while  neither  the  old  reliable 
exorcisms  nor  the  holy  water  produced  any  effect  when 
the  girl  did  not  apprehend  the  sacred  texts. 

Believers  in  Satanic  possession  were  not  satisfied 
with  Bishop  Miron's  experiments,  for  they  regarded  them 
as  a  proof  of  the  cunning  of  the  Devil  who  thus  slyly  de- 
ceived his  enemies.  The  case  was  brought  before  the 
Archbishop  De  Gondi,  but  he,  too,  proved  sceptical  and 
declared  after  some  judicious  experiments  that  the  de- 
meanor of  the  possessed  girl  was  a  mixed  result  of  insan- 
ity and  simulation. 

Urban    G randier. 

In  spite  of  the  sound  judgment  shown  by  these  and 
other  prelates,  the  prosecutions  of  witches  continued.  In 
the  case  of  Urban  Grandier,  a  priest,  who  was  accused  by 
the  Ursuline  nuns  at  Loudun  in  Western  France  of  hav- 
ing exercised  Satanic  powers  upon  their  minds,  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Bordeaux  recognised  the  malicious  hostility 
and  hysterical  bitterness  with  which  the  nuns  bore  wit- 
ness against  their  preacher.  Grandier  was  not  innocent 
in  other  respects,  but  there  were  many  priests  Avhose 
morals  were  no  better.  Considering  the  innumerable  con- 
tradictions in  the  statements  of  his  enemies,  the  Arch- 
bishop dismissed  the  case  and  he  was  honorably  rein- 
stalled in  his  position.     But  that  was  not  the  end  of  it. 


364 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


.  (b:) 


(^U>ll^c  fJ^'^  .^'^  OTA)  ill i  4MS33.<'i'I?'^^^''^'^T 


^^^<D}fe'^i  ri/SoP 


ccto^^^ 


♦=  f^'^ 


Fac-similk  of  the  Contract  Which  Urban  Grandier  Is  Reported  to  Have 

Made  with  the  Devil,  and  Which  Was  Produced  and 

Accepted  as  Evidence  in  Court. 


THE  AGE  OE  THE  REEORMATION.  365 

It  happened  that  M.  de  Laubordeuiont,  a  cousin  of  the 
prioress,  while  attending  to  some  business  of  the  French 
Government  in  Loudun,  heard  of  the  story  and  gave  a 
highlj'-colored  report  to  Cardinal  Richelieu,  at  whose  in- 
stance the  investigation  was  renewed.  In  the  second  trial 
Grandier  had  no  chance  ;  for  Laubordemont  was  appointed 
judge.  He  accepted  the  most  ridiculous  evidence.  The 
devils  who  spoke  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  obsessed  nuns 
were  called  upon  as  witnesses,  and  two  documents  were 
produced  which  purported  to  be  the  original  pact  of  Gran- 
dier with  Satan.  One  of  them  is  signed  by  Grandier,  the 
other  bears  the  signature  of  six  devils,  the  authenticity 
of  which  is  vouched  for  by  Baalbarith,  the  Secretary  of 
his  Satanic  Majesty.  The  script  is  in  mirror  writing. 
Four  expert  Doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  although  they 
never  doubted  either  the  documents  or  the  reality  of  the 
devils  of  the  obsessed  nuns,  saw  fit  to  caution  the  judges 
not  to  admit  the  testimony  of  Satan,  because  the  slan- 
derer and  liar  could  not  be  a  trustworthy  witness.  But 
the  exorcising  fathers,  all  of  whom  were  Carmelite 
monks,  laid  down  the  principle  that  a  properly  exorcised 
devil  cannot  help  confessing  the  truth.  Grandier  was 
cruelly  tortured  and  executed  on  August  IS ;  but  Peter 
Lactantius,  the  chief  exorcist  whom  the  dying  Grandier 
had  challenged  to  appear  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  died 
a  raving  maniac  exactly  one  month  after  the  death  of  his 
victim,  on  September  18. 

A  Protestant   Witch-Execution. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  cruelty  of 
the  Roman  Catholic   methods  of    witch-prosecution,  but 


366  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

the  Protestants  were  not  a  whit  better,  except  perhaps 
that  they  added  to  the  proceedings  a  good  deal  more  of 
pious  cant  and  accompanied  executions  with  a  religious 
unction  which  made  their  conduct  the  more  detestable. 
As  a  typical  case  we  quote  an  abbreviated  report  of  the 
execution  of  three  witches,  Susanna,  Use,  and  their 
mother  Catharine,  which  took  place  at  Arendsee,  1687, 
August  5  :  * 

"The  case  was  submitted  for  another  revision,  during  which 
time  six  clergymen  attended  daily  upon  the  three  prisoners  and  ex- 
horted them  to  pray  and  sing  and  repent.  Then  they  were  cited 
before  the  court  one  after  the  other  and  the  clergymen  stood  be- 
hind them.  The  president  of  the  court  asked  them  once  more,  first 
Susanna,  whether  she  had  received  an  incubus;  (answer:  Yes!) 
Secondly  Use,  whether  her  mother  had  given  her  an  incubus ; 
(answer :  Yes  !)  and  thirdly  Catharine,  whether  she  had  given  an 
incubus  to  Use;  (answer:  Yes  !)  Thereupon  the  Notary,  Mr.  Anton 
Werneccius,  read  the  judgment,  and  the  executioner  went  to  the 
court  and  asked  for  mercy  in  case  he  should  not  succeed  at  once  in 
decapitating  Susanna  and  Use.  The  question  was  asked  whether 
there  was  any  additional  grievance.  Then  the  rod  was  broken, 
table  and  chairs  of  the  court  upset,  and  the  procession  moved  out 
to  the  Koppenberg,  the  place  of  execution. 

"Part  of  the  guards  opened  the  way.  Each  one  of  the  three 
witches  was  accompanied  on  either  side  by  a  clergyman  and  led 
with  a  rope  by  a  hangman.  At  the  same  time  six  armed  citizens 
surrounded  her.      Another  part  of  the  guard  closed  the  procession. 

"On  the  way  prayers  alternated  with  exhortations  and  singing 
of  hymns. 

"Before  the  Seehausen  gate  a  circle  was  made  and  Susanna 
was  led  round  until  the  public  had  finished  singing  the  hymn  'God 
our  father,  dwell  with  us.' 

*  See  Horst,  Zauberbibliolhck,  2,  pp.  411-413,  quoted  from  Keichardt,  Vol.  I., 
pp.  100-126. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  367 

"When  her  head  was  taken  off,  the  people  sang,  'To  thee  we 
pray,  O  Holy  Ghost.'* 

"Next  came  Use  who  was  killed  in  the  same  way,  accompa- 
nied by  the  singing  of  the  same  hymns. 

"While  the  singing  continued  Catharine  was  placed  upon  the 
fagots  and  her  neck  fastened  with  an  iron  chain,  which  was  drawn 
so  tight  that  her  face  swelled  and  became  suffused  with  a  brown 
color.  The  fagots  were  lit  and  all  present,  clergy,  school-children, 
and  spectators  sang  until  her  body  was  consumed  in  the  lire." 

Witch- Prosecution  in  America. 

Not  less  terrible  fruit  than  in  Europe  did  the  belief 
in  witchcraft  bear  on  the  free  soil  of  Protestant  America. 
Death-sentences  for  witchcraft  occurred  several  times 
after  the  foundation  of  the  New  England  colonies ;  bitt 
the  last  and  most  terrible  outbreak  took  place  in  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  as  recorded  in  Upham's  History  of  Salem 
Witchcraft  1  and  in  Drake's  Witchcraft  Delusion  in  New 
England.  Under  the  baneful  influence  of  the  religious 
teachings  of  Increase  Mather  and  his  son.  Cotton 
Mather, t  two  Boston  clergymen,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Par- 
ris,  minister  of  the  Church  in  Salem,  began  to  have  a 
case  of  witchcraft  investigated,  which,  as  says  President 
Andrew  Dickson  White, J  "would  have  been  the  richest 

•Especially  the  latter  song,  Nuti  bitlen  luir  den  Heilgen  Geist,  was  believed  to 
afford  protection  against  witchcraft.  When  a  pious  superintendent  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Giessen  was  once  surrounded  by  students  dressed  as  devils  he  chanted  in 
his  anxiety  this  hymn  in  the  hope  of  driving  away  thereby  his  tormentors. 

•j-  Compare  Cotton  Mather,  The  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World;  being  an 
Account  of  the  Tryals  of  Several  Witches,  lately  Ex\e\cnted  in  h'eiu  England 
(first  London  edition,  1693). 

X  See  his  ' '  New  Chapters  in  the  Warfare  of  Science, "  Pofular  Science  Montltly, 
May,  1889,  p.  II.  Compare  also  Konig,  Ausgcburten  des  A/enschenicahns,  pp. 
488-494. 


368  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

of  farces  had  they  not  led  to  events  so  tragical."  The 
possessed  behaved  like  maniacs  in  court  and  charged  a 
poor  old  Indian  woman  with  having  bewitched  them.  Her 
husband,  an  ignorant  fool,  was  induced  to  testify  against 
her.  This  easy  success  emboldened  the  believers  in 
witchcraft,  among  whom  the  Putnam  family  played  a 
prominent  part.  They  began  to  prosecute  some  of  the 
foremost  people  of  New  England ;  several  men  and 
women  were  executed,  many  fled  for  their  lives,  and  a 
reign  of  terror  ensued.  Any  person  once  suspected  and 
accused  was  doomed.  As  an  instance  we  quote  the  case 
of  Mr.  Burroughs,  a  clergyman,  who  on  account  of  petty 
parish  quarrels  with  the  Putnam  family  had  been  dis- 
missed from  the  ministry.     President  White  sa3's: 

"  Mr.  Burroughs  had  led  a  blameless  life,  the  only  thing  ever 
charged  against  him  by  the  Putnams  being  that  he  insisted  strenu- 
ously that  his  wife  should  not  go  about  the  parish  talking  of  her 
own  family  matters.  He  was  charged  with  afflicting  the  children, 
convicted,  and  executed.  At  the  last  moment  he  repeated  the 
Lord's  Prayer  solemnly  and  fully,  which  it  was  supposed  no  sorcerer 
could  do,  and  this,  together  with  his  straightforward  Christian  utter- 
ances at  the  execution,  shook  the  faith  of  manj'  in  the  reality  of 
diabolical  possession." 

President  White  continues : 

"Ere  long  it  was  known  that  one  of  the  girls  had  acknowl- 
edged that  she  had  belied  some  persons  who  had  been  executed, 
and  especially  Mr.  Burroughs,  and  that  she  had  begged  forgive- 
ness ;  but  this  for  a  time  availed  nothing.  Persons  who  would  not 
confess  "were  tied  up  and  put  to  a  sort  of  torture  which  was  effec- 
tive in  securing  new  revelations. 

"  In  the  case  of  Giles  Cory  the  horrors  of  the  persecution  cul- 
minated.     Seeing   that   his  doom  was  certain,  and  wishing  to  pre- 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  369 

serve  his  family  from  attainder  and  their  property  from  confisca- 
tion, he  refused  to  plead.  He  was  therefore  pressed  to  death,  and, 
when  in  his  last  agonies  his  tongue  was  pressed  out  of  his  mouth, 
the  sheriff  with  his  walking-stick  thrust  it  back  again." 

Increase  and  Cotton  Mather  were  the  last  defenders 
of  diabolical  possession  and  witchcraft  on  American  soil ; 
the  latter  saw  in  his  later  years  a  new  era  dawning  upon 
his  country.  Vigorously  and  successfully  censured  by 
Robert  Calef,  a  courageous  Boston  merchant,  he  be- 
moaned the  decay  of  the  religious  spirit  among  the  grow- 
ing generation,  and  even  to  his  d3ang  hour  regarded  the' 
mere  unbelief  in  witchcraft  as  an  attack  upon  the  glory 
of  the  Lord. 

The  present  generation  may  well  smile  at  his  mis- 
taken religious  notions ;  but  granting  him  that  the  old 
conception  of  God  as  a  miracle-worker  and  an  individual 
ego-being  after  the  fashion  of  pagan  personifications  be 
right,  his  idea  of  the  importance  of  a  belief  in  witchcraft 
is  logically  correct.  If  witchcraft  is  impossible,  then 
there  can  be  no  wizard-god  who  changes  sticks  into  ser- 
pents, who  stops  the  sun  in  his  course,  reverses  the 
shadow  of  the  dial,  is  jealous  of  other  gods  and  of  the 
familiar  spirits  of  witches.  The  abandonment  of  the  be- 
lief in  witchcraft  tacitly  implied  the  abandonment  of  a 
belief  in  God  as  a  miracle-worker,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  a  nobler  religious  faith  which  surrendered  the  idea  of 
seeking  God  in  the  suppositious  possibility  of  breaking 
the  laws  of  nature,  and  finally  found  him  in  the  cosmic 
order  itself,  i.  e.,  in  the  unity,  the  harmony,  the  right- 
ness  of  those  eternal  factors  of  existence  which  are  the 
conditions  of  reason,  of  truth,  and  of  justice. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION. 


Moll  tor  and  Erasmus. 

THE  horrors  of  Devil  worship,  of  the  Inquisition,  and 
of  witch-prosecution  were  the  natural  consequences 
of  a  misconception  of  the  nature  of  evil.  They  were  the 
visitations  that  necessarily  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  a 
most  abandoned  ignorance.  They  oppressed  mankind 
like  a  dreadful  nightmare,  like  ghastly  hallucinations  of 
a  feverish  brain,  and  the  disease  passed  away  slowly, 
very  slowly,  only  when  the  light  of  science,  which  is  the 
divine  revelation  that  is  taking  place  now,  gradually-  be- 
gan to  dispel  the  gloomy  shadows  of  the  night  and  re- 
vealed the  superstitious  character  of  the  belief  that  Jiad 
\  begotten  the  crimes  of  the  dark  ages. 

The  first  protests  against  witch-prosecution  were 
raised  at  the  time  when  the  two  inquisitors  Sprenger  and 
Institutoris,  fortified  with  the  unequivocal  authority  of 
his  Holiness  the  Pope,  carried  on  their  criminal  profes- 
sion in  the  boldest  wa}'.  The  outrages  of  the  Inquisition 
were  pointed  out  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  Dialogiis  de  la- 
miis  et  pythoiiihus  niitlioibiis^  written  in  1489  b^-  Dr. 
Ulricli   Molitoris,  an   attorney  of  Constance.     Two  other 


THE  ABOLITION  OK  WITCH-PROSECUTION. 


371 


prominent  men  of  the  juridical  profession,  Alciatus  and 
Ponzinibius,  expressed  themselves  in  the  same  spirit; 
they  declared  bodily  excursions  of  witches  and  similar 
things   to   be    pure    imagination.      But    their    arguments 


Apparitions  of  the  Cross. 
From  Griinbeck's  Eitie  tieia'e  auszlcg-ung  der  seltsamen  luunderzaichcn  (1507) 

were  of  no  avail,  for  Bartholomaeus  de  Spina,  the  master 
of  the  holy  palace,  declared  that  jurists  could  not  under- 
stand the  case  of  witchcraft. 


372  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

The  time  was  not  yet  ripe ;  the  people  still  clung  to 
the  belief  in  visions  and  miracles,  dreams,  apparitions 
and  sorcery.  Most  insane  productions  (such  as,  e.  g., 
Griinbeck's  New  Interpretation  of  Strang^e  Miracles^ 
which  appeared  in  the  year  1507)  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  world  and  passed  for  divine  revelations.  The  more 
uncanny  they  were,  the  higher  was  the  credit  they  re- 
ceived.* 

There  is  a  remarkable  instance  on  record  that  the 
hangman  of  Vienna  refused  to  perform  his  office  on  Oct. 
21,  1498.  The  execution  had  to  be  delayed  until  another 
hangman  could  be  procured. f  Another  case  is  mentioned 
by  Soldan.J  Katharine  Hensel  of  Feckelberg  was  sen- 
tenced to  die  in  June,  1576,  but  when  at  the  place  of  exe- 
cution she  pleaded  her  innocence,  the  hangman  refused 
to  execute  her.  The  case  was  referred  to  the  Palsgrave 
George  John  of  Veldenz  who  after  a  careful  examination 
of  the  trial  ordered  an  acquittal  and  condemned  the  town- 
ship Feckelberg  to  bear  the  costs. § 

The  famous  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  published  a  let- 
ter in  the  year  1500  in  which  he  spoke  of  devil-contracts 
as  an  invention  made  b\'  the  witch-prosecutors ;  but  his 
satire  had  no  effect ;  for,  in  the  meantime,  fagots  were 
constantly  burning  all  over  Europe. 


*  Crosses  were  seen  everywhere  ;  in  the  dress  of  the  people  and  in  the  sky  ; 
also  crowns  of  thorns,  nails,  scourges,  etc.,  which  caused  the  Bishop  of  Liege  to 
order  special  fasts  and  call  the  emperor's  attention  to  the  dangers  that  threatened 
the  world. 

fSchlager,  Wiener  Skizzeii  aiis  dem  Miltclalicr,  XL,  n.  F.,  p  35;  mentioned 
by  Koskoff,  II.,  p.  294;  Konig  and  others. 

\  Ucxenfroccsse,  p.  255. 

§  Quoted  in  Neue  Zusiilzc  of  the  Germ.in  translation  of  Weier's  De  ^rcesligiis 
dcemonum 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  373 


Weier^  Meyfart^  and  Loos. 

The  first  successful  attempt — successful  only  tempo- 
rarily and  in  a  limited  degree — of  stopping  witch -prose- 
cution came  from  a  Protestant  physician,  Johannes  Weier 
(Latin  "Wierus"  or  "  Piscinarius")  •  He  was  born  in 
Grave,  1515,  had  studied  medicine  in  Paris,  and  travelled 
in  Africa,  where,  as  he  tells  us,  he  had  had  a  good  oppor- 
tunity of  studying  sorcery.  Then  he  went  to  Crete,  and 
on  his  return  was  elected  body-physician  to  Duke  Wil- 
liam of  Cleves.  His  work  of  six  books,  De  prcsstigiis 
Dcpmonnm  el  incantationibus  ac  Vctteficiis,  appeared  in 
1563.  He  still  believes  in  the  Devil  and  in  magic,  but 
he  rejects  the  possibility  of  witchcraft  and  compacts  with 
the  Devil.  He  boldly  accuses  monks  and  clergymen  of 
being,  under  the  pretext  of  serving  religion,  most  zealous 
servants  of  Beelzebub.  William, Duke  of  Cleves,  Frede- 
ric, Count  of  Palatine,  and  the  Count  of  Niurwenar  fol- 
lowed Weier' s  advice  and  suppressed  all  witch -prosecu- 
tion. 

Twenty  years  after  Weier  another  heroic  man,  a 
Protestant,  named  Meyfart,  rector  of  the  Latin  school  of 
Coburg,  raised  his  voice  of  warning.  His  booklet  was  a 
sermon  of  "Admonitions  to  the  powerful  princes  and  the 
conscientious  preachers,"  by  which  words  he  meant  the 
Dominican  fathers  who  were  the  official  witch-prosecu- 
tors. He  reminded  them  of  the  day  of  judgment,  when 
they  would  be  held  to  account  for  every  torture  and  tear 
of  their  victims. 

Weier  and  Meyfart  made  a  deep  impression.     But  a 


374  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

reaction  followed.  How  little,  after  all,  Weier  succeeded 
in  conquering  tlie  belief  in  witchcraft,  which  he  had  tem- 
porarily shaken,  can  be  learned  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
Protestant  Electorate  of  Saxony  a  criminal  ordinance  was 
issued  in  the  year  1572,  which  threatened  all  people  mak- 
ing a  compact  with  the  Devil  ' '  to  be  brought  from  life  to 
death  on  the  fagot." 

Cornelius  Loos,  a  canonicus  and  professor  at  the 
University  of  Treves  and  a  devout  Catholic  Christian, 
was  unfortunate  enough  to  be  more  clear-headed  than  his 
bishop,  Peter  Binsfeld.  Recognising  the  baseness  of 
judges  in  the  cases  of  witchcraft,  he  wrote  a  book  De 
vera  et  falsa  magia.  The  book  was  never  published  ;  it 
was  stopped  in  the  press  and  its  author  sent  to  prison. 
In  1593  Loos  was  forced  to  recant  on  his  knees  before  the 
assembled  dignitaries  of  the  Church.  He  died  in  1595 
of  the  plague,  which  probably  saved  him  from  an  execu- 
tion at  the  stake.  Loos's  manuscript  was  supposed  to  be 
lost  but  was  recently  discovered  by  Prof.  George  Lincoln 
Burr  of  Cornell  University.''' 

Three  Noble  Jesuits. 

Adam  Tannerf  (1572-1632)  and  Paul  Laymann 
(1575-1635) ,  two  Jesuits  of  South  Germany,  strongly 
advised  the  judges  to  be  very  careful  in  lawsuits  against 
witches.  When  death  overtook  Tanner  on  a  journey,  in 
a  little  place  called  Unken,  the  parishioners  refused  to 
grant   him  a  Christian  burial,   because  a  "hairy  little 

*See  The  New  York  E^icning  Post,  November  13,  1886. 
f  Sometimes  spelled  "Thanner."    See  Konig,  ib.,  II.,  p.  572,  and  Roskoff,  II., 
p.  308, 


THK  ABOLITION  OK  WTrCU-PROSECUTION.  375 

imp"  on  a  glass  plate  was  found  among  his  things.  It 
was  an  insect  prepared  for  the  microscope.*  The  curate 
of  Unken,  however,  succeeded  in  convincing  his  congre- 
gation of  the  harmless  nature  of  the  '*imp,"  and  they  at 
last  consented  to  the  interment  in  their  cemetery. 

Most  touching  is  the  narrative  of  another  Jesuit,  a 
noble-minded  man,  who  takes  a  prominent  place  among 
the  strugglers  against  the  dreary  superstition  of  burning 
witches.  This  man  is  Friedrich  Spee  von  Langenfeld 
(1591-1635),  a  poet  and  the  author  of  a  collection  of 
songs  called  Trutznachtigall  (spite-nightingale) ,  whose 
warnings  remained  unheeded,  "  as  a  voice  crying  in  the 
wilderness."  His  Caiitio  crtjuinalis  (published  anony- 
mouslyt  in  1631)  was  an  appeal,  much  needed  at  the  time, 
to  the  German  authorities  anent  their  legal  proceedings 
against  witches. 

Spee  was  engaged  in  Franconia  as  pastor,  and  had 
prepared  for  their  death  at  the  stake  not  fewer  than  two 
hundred  persons  accused  of  witchcraft.  Scarcely  thirty 
years  of  age,  he  was  asked  one  day  by  Philip  of  Schoen- 
born.  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg,  why  his  hair  had  turned 
gray.  "  Through  grief,"  he  said.  "  Of  the  many  witches 
whom  I  have  prepared  for  death,  not  one  was  guilty." 
The  reply  must  have  burnt  into  the  soul  of  the  ques- 
tioner, for  ever  after  Philip  of  Schoenborn  remained  un- 
der its  influence.  Spee  confessed  to  the  Bishop  that  he 
was  the  author  of  the  Caiitio  crhin'iialis,  and  the  Bishop 
did  not  betray  the  confidence  of  the  young  Jesuit. 

*  Konig  says  it  was  a  mosquito,  and  Roskoff  a  flea. 

f  That  Spee  von  Langenfeld  was  the  author  of  the  Caiitio  criminalis  was  dis- 
covered by  Leibnitz. 


376 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Says  Spec  in  his  Cautio  criiuinalis: 

"In  these  proceedings  no  one  is  allowed  to  have  legal  assist- 
ance or  defence,  however  honestly  it  may  be  conducted.  For  it  is 
claimed  that  the  crime  is  a  crimen  exceptum,  one  not  subject  to  the 
rules  of  ordinary  legal  proceedings.     And  even  if  an  attorney  were 


Fkieukich  von  Sfkk. 
After  a  photograph  of  the  oil  picture  in  the  Marzellen-Gymnasium  at  Cologne. 

allowed  to  the  prisoner,  the  former  would  from  the  outset  be  sus- 
pected himself,  as  a  patron  and  protector  of  witches,  so  that  all 
mouths  are  shut  and  all  pens  are  blunted,  and  one  can  neither 
speak  nor  write.  ...  I  swear  solemnly  that  of  the  many  persons 
whom  I  accompanied  to  the  stake,  there  was  not  one  who  could  be 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  377 

said  to  have  been  duly  convicted  ;  and  two  other  pastors  made  me 
the  same  confession  from  their  experience.  Treat  the  heads  of  the 
Church,  the  judges,  myself,  in  the  same  way  as  those  unfortunate 
ones,  make  us  undergo  the  same  tortures,  and  you  will  convict  us 
all  as  wizards." 

Spee  did  not  deny  the  possibility  of  witchcraft ;  he 
was  a  faithful  believer  in  the  dogmas  held  by  the  Church 
of  his  age.  He  merely  objected  to  the  abuses  of  witch- 
craft and  recommended  clemency. 

Philip  of  Schoenborn  became  Archbishop  of  Mayence 
and  to  his  honor  be  it  said  that  under  his  government  no 
fagots  were  lit. 

Abatement  of  J J^itch- Prosecution. 

Horst  (in  his  Zauberbib/iot/iek.,  Vi.,  310)  publishes 
a  strange  instance  of  the  fanaticism  of  the  seventeenth 
century  which  appeared  anonymously  under  the  title 
Dniten-Zeitnng^  in  1627,  praising  in  poor  verses  the 
great  deeds  of  the  Inquisition.  According  to  Horst's  au- 
thority, they  are  written  by  a  Protestant  who  expresses 
his  joy  and  gratitude  to  God  that  in  the  adjoining  Cath- 
olic countries  the  extirpation  of  witchcraft  was  carried 
on  with  unabating  vigor.  Thus  it  is  apparent  that  in 
spite  of  Weier  and  Spee  the  idea  of  witchcraft  and  of  the 
necessity  of  witch-prosecution  was  still  deeply  rooted  in 
the  minds  of  many  people.  Still,  the  authorities  began 
to  lose  faith  in  the  necessity  of  witch-prosecution,  and 
the  champions  of  the  lost  cause  d«em  it  wiser  to  seek  the 
shelter  of  anonymous  publication. 

In  Holland  witch-prosecution  was  abolished  in  1610  ; 
in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  it  ceased  in  1632. 


THE  ABOLITION  OK  WITCn-PROSECUTIOJST.  J/:^ 

Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden,  as  the  first  act  after 
her  accession  to  the  throne,  issued  a  proclamation  on 
February  16,  1649,  which  applied  also  to  all  the  Swedish 
possessions  on  German  soil,  to  stop  all  proceedings  of 
witch-prosecution.  Gabriel  Naude,  a  Frenchman  (he  died 
16S0)  wrote  against  witch-prosecution,  and,  although  the 
Parliament  of  France  which  convened  at  Rouen  insisted 
on  the  existence  of  witchcraft  and  on  the  necessity  of  the 
capital  punishment  of  witches,  Louis  XIV.  decreed  in 
1672  that  all  cases  of  witchcraft  be  dismissed.  He  was 
obliged  to  re -introduce  the  law  of  capital  punishment  of 
witches  in  1683,  but  did  not  fail  to  limit  the  power  of  the 
judges. 

Matthias  Hopkins,  commonly  called  "  witchfinder 
general,"  took  advantage  of  the  disorders  of  the  English 
civil  wars  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  made  a  special 
business  of  the  discovery  of  witches.  He  was  quite  suc- 
cessful, until  his  own  methods  were  tried  on  his  own  per- 
son, and  as  he  did  not  sink  in  the  water  ordeal,  the  peo- 
ple declared  him  to  be  a  wizard  and  slew  him  (1647)  ."* 
Butler  describes  Hopkins's  career  in  Hudibras  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Hath  not  this  present  Parliament 
A  lieger  to  the  devil  sent, 
Fully  empower'd  to  treat  about 
Finding  revolted  witches  out? 
And  has  he  not  within  a  year 
Hang'd  threescore  of  them  in  one  shire? 
Some  only  for  not  being  drown'd, 
And  some  for  sitting  above  ground 
Whole  days  and  nights  upon  their  breeches, 

•For  details  see  /.ctters  on  Demonology  and  Witchcraft,  by  Walter  Scott. 


380 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


And  feeling  pain,  were  hang'd  for  witches. 
And  some  for  putting  knavish  tricks 
Upon  green  geese  or  turkey  chicks  ; 
Or  pigs  that  suddenly  deceased 
Of  griefs  unnatural,  as  he  guess'd, 
Who  proved  himself  at  length  a  witch 
And  made  a  rod  for  his  own  breech." 

Witch-prosecution  was  finally  abolished  in  England 
in  the  year  1682.  Glanville,  a  fanatic  Englishman  of 
Somerset,  felt  himself  called  upon  to  refute  the  writings 

of  Gabriel  Naude  and  found 
many  followers,  but  Dr. 
Webster ,  a  physician ,  stood 
up  against  Glanville 's 
superstitious  propositions. 
Glanville  thereupon  pro- 
ceeded to  hunt  witches,  but 
the  English  government 
ordered  Mr.  Hunt,  a  justice 
of  the  peace  of  Somerset, 
to  stop  him. 

At  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  polemics 
against  the  belief  in  the  Devil  began  to  grow  bolder  and 
ever  bolder.  A  Dutch  physician,  Anton  van  Dale,  no 
longer  attributes  the  pagan  oracles  to  the  influence  of  the 
Devil,  but  to  priestly  fraud  {^Dc  oraciilis  Ethnicorinn^ 
Amsterdam,  1685) ,  and  set  the  people  to  thinking  on 
witch-prosecution  (see  his  work  Disserlationrs  de  origine 
ac  proeressti   Idolalricc^  etc.,  1696).     He  thus  prepared 

*  Reproduced  from   the  portrait  on  tlie  title  page  of  Die  In-nutbi-rtf  Wt-lt  (the 
first  German  translation  of  De  belm'erile  W'eereld). 


Balthasar  Bekker.* 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTIOX. 


381 


the  way  for  tlie  two  j^reat  reformers  Bekker  and  Tlioma- 
sius,  who  openly  and  squarely  denounced  witchcraft  as  a 
superstition  and  at  last  succeeded  in  abolishing  the  official 
prosecutions  of  witches  by  the  authorities  of  State  and 
Church. 

Balthasar  Bekker,   a   Dutch   clergyman  of  German 

B  E  R  r  G  H  T. 

AXfoboo?  bcnectflcn  tJjuftbctttoce  cccflcbocltm  befe^tuetft^  in8».  B|i 
Hero  Nauta tot  EceUutrbcncfitactc  ban  p?iUilfgic  (laat/  oybmnaam 
ban  Barend  Beek,  25ochbcchoprc  in  Den  J^atjc  /  cnDc  Daac  fn  gc? 
meIi>tDO?0/  dat  hy  bciigwasmetdatBffey(^tedrukken:  fo bCCftlaact bcn '3fll» 

teut  I  Ijffcmct  fijne  tigcneljanb  /  bat  bp  Barend  Beck  niet  en  ftcnt  /  cnbe 
fjcmbiccctelift  noci)  inbircctclih  nooit  iet|^  te  b?uhhcn  gegcbrnbceft,-  maac 
Uefen  b?u6  toan  allc  be  bier  bocften  in  4°-  aan  nicmant  anbec^  \ynxi  aaii 
D  A  «  I  E  L  van  den  D  a  l  e  n  toegefiaan.  3Decf)alben  Sent  Ijp  boojtaan 
Been  cFcniplawn  \mi  be  (i jnc  /  ban  bie  op  befc  tojjfe  b«n  Bern  fcif  onbfpfcJjj^ 


Bekker's  AuTOGKAI'H. 

Reproduced  from  his  original  hand%vriting  in  the  first  Dutch  edition  of 

De  bctoverde  Weereld. 

descent,  published  in  1691-1693  a  work  entitled  "The 
Enchanted  World  "  i^De  betoverde  Weereld)  ^  which  was 
a  thorough  and  careful  examination  of  the  belief  in  devils, 
witches,  and  the  legal  suits  conducted  against  witches. 
Bekker  is  a  faithful  Christian  who  undertakes  to  prove 
that  the  existence  of  a  personal  Devil  is  a  superfluous  as- 


382 


THE  HISTORY  OK  THE  DEVIL. 


sumption.     His  book  is  a  formidable  attack  upon  the  In- 
quisition and  its  habits  of  ensnaring  its  innocent  victims. 


Christian  Thomasius. 
Reduced  from  a  copper  engraving  by  M    Bernigroth. 

And  the  success  of  the  l)()ok  was  as  great  as  it  was  de- 
served.    Within  two  months  four  thousand  copies  were 


THE  AUOI.TTION  OV  WITCII-PROSECtlTION.  383 

sold.  And  yd  did  Bckker  fail  to  convince  his  contem- 
poraries. A  flood  ol  refutations  appeared,  and  the  synod 
to  whom  he  presented  his  work,  a  Protestant  bod}-,  con- 
demned his  views  and  discharged  him  from  the  ministry. 
The  seeds  sown  by  Bekker  were  reaped  by  Christian 
Thomasius  (1656-1718) ,  professor  at  the  University  of 
Halle,  who  waged  a  relentless  war  against  witcb-prosecu- 
tion.  In  the  year  1698  a  case  of  witchcraft  was  submitted 
to  him  and  against  the  advice  of  one  of  his  colleagues  he 
condemned  a  poor  woman  to  death.  However,  when  the 
judgment  had  been  executed,  the  arguments  of  his  op- 
ponent gained  on  him  until  he  became  convinced  of  his 
own  error;   and  now  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  devote  the 


Signature  of  Christian  Thomasius. 

whole  influence  of  his  authoritj^  to  the  abolition  of  witch- 
prosecution.  He  came  out  boldly  and  squarely  m  con- 
demnation of  the  practice  and  denied  the  bodil3^  corpo- 
reality of  the  Devil,  which  served  him  as  an  argument  to 
disprove  the  possibility  of  making  a  compact  with  him. 
His  main  writings  are  Dissertatio  de  crimine  viagicr  and 
De  origine  ct  progressu  processus  ■inquisitorii  contra  sagas. 
Thomasius  was  more  successful  than  his  predeces- 
sors. All  official  witch-prosecutions  ceased,  and  the 
Devil  was  no  longer  an  object  of  universal  awe.. 

TJie  Last   Traces. 

The  Inquisition  was  still  in  existence  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  Spain,  a  country  dis- 


384  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

tinguished  lay  its  ultra-Roman  conception  of  Christian- 
ity. When  in  1808,  after  the  battle  of  Ramosiera,  the 
French  troops  under  General  La  Salle  conquered  Toledo, 
they  opened  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition.  The  cells 
were  dark  and  unclean  holes,  scarcely  large  enough  to 
allow  a  man  to  stand  upright,  and  most  of  the  prisoners 
that  were  brought  up  to  daylight  had  become  stiff  and 
crippled  by  the  maltreatment  of  their  torturers.  Unhap- 
pily they  and  their  liberators,  a  detached  troop  of  lancers, 
were  cut  off  by  a  furious  mob  of  Spaniards  from  the  main 
body  of  the  French  army.  General  La  Salle  hurried  to 
their  rescue  but  came  too  late ;  he  found  only  the  man- 
gled bodies  of  the  slaughtered. 

In  a  subterranean  vault  General  La  Salle  found  a 
wooden  statue  of  the  holy  virgin  dressed  in  silk,  her  head 
surrounded  with  a  golden  halo,  her  right  hand  holding 
the  standard  of  the  Inquisition.  She  was  fair  to  look  at, 
but  her  breast  was  covered  with  spiked  armor ;  and  her 
arms  and  hands  were  movable  by  machinery  concealed 
behind  the  statue.  The  servants  of  the  Inquisition  ex- 
plained to  General  La  Salle  that  it  was  used  for  bringing 
heretics  to  confession.  The  delinquent  received  the  sac- 
rament at  the  altar  in  the  presence  of  the  dimly  illumined 
statue,  and  was  once  more  requested  to  confess.  Then 
two  priests  led  him  to  the  statue  of  the  Madre  dolorosa 
which  miraculously  seemed  to  welcome  him  by  extending 
her  arms.  "  She  beckons  you  to  her  bosom,"  they  said ; 
"in  her  arms  the  most  obdurate  sinner  will  confess," 
whereupon  the  arms  closed,  pressing  their  victim  upon 
the  spikes  and   knives. 

Napoleon   I.   suppressed   the    Inquisition    (in   Spain 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PKOSRCUTION. 


385 


December  4,  180S,  and  in  Rome  one  3'car  later),  but  it 
was  revived  by  Ferdinand  VII.,  Kinsj;  of  Spain,  June  21, 
1813.  Its  last  victims  were  a  Jew  who  was  burned,  and 
a  Quaker  school-master  wlio  was  hanged  in   1826. 


Descriptions  of  He//. 

The  Jesuit  Father,  Caussin,  the  father  confessor  of 
King  Louis  XIII.  writes  on  hell  in  his  book.  La  Cour 
SatJitc, — a  w^ork  which  attained  considerable  fame  in  his 
days,  as  follows : 

"What  is  hell?  A  silence  ;  for  all  that  which  is  said  of  hell 
is  less  than  hell  itself.  No  just  man  can  think  of  it  without  shed- 
ding thousands  of  tears.  But 
do  you  want  to  know  what  hell 
is?  Ask  Tertullian.  He  will  tell 
you  that  hell  is  a  deep,  dark  pit 
of  stench  in  which  all  the  offa! 
of  the  whole  world  flows  to- 
gether. Ask  Hugo  of  St.  Victor. 
He  will  answer  :  '  Hell  is  an 
abyss  without  a  bottom,  which 
opens  the  gates  of  despair,  and 
where  all  hope  is  abandoned.' 
■It  is  an  eternal  pool  of  fire,' 
says  St.  John  the  divine  (Rev. 
xiv.  20)  ;  '  its  air  comes  from  glowing  coals,  its  light  from  flickering 
flames.  The  nights  of  hell  are  darkness  ;  the  places  of  rest  of  the 
damned  are  serpents  and  vipers  ;  their  hope  is  despair.  O,  eternal 
death  !     O,  life  without  life  !     O,  miser}'  without  end  !  '  " 

Justus  Georg  Schottel,*  whilom  member  of  the  Con- 
sistory   of    Brunswick-Liineburg,  and    councillor    to   the 

*This  as  well  as  the  quotations  following  are  taken  from  J.  Scheible,  Vol.  I., 
pages  196  ft. 


Schottel's  Wheel  of  Hell. 


386  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

duke,  doctor  of  jurisprudence,  and  a  learned  man  who 
was  not  without  merit  in  German  poetry  and  literature, 
took  special  interest  in  the  mysteries  of  the  infernal  re- 
gions, and  published  his  views  in  a  book  of  328  pages, 
in  which  he  explained  the  tortures  of  the  iron  wheel  of 
eternal  hell  torture : 

"Dear  reader,"  he  says,  "look  at  this  wheel  all  round  and 
read  carefully  what  is  written  on  it.  How  much  time  and  suffer- 
ing, how  much  anxiety  and  torture  of  despair,  must  be  gone  through 
in  hell,  must  be  endured,  borne,  experienced  and  realised,  by  hun- 
dreds, by  thousands,  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  by  millions  of  years 
in  burning  pitch,  in  flaming  sulphur,  in  red  hot  iron,  in  poignant 
blow-pipe  flames,  with  weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth 
infinite  ;  with  hunger  and  thirst  miraculous  ;  in  stench  and  dark- 
ness cruelly  ;  before  this  wheel  be  turned  around  only  once.  But 
now  this  wheel  of  eternity  is  made  of  purely  everlasting  iron,  and 
must  turn  round  many  hundred,  yea  million,  and  millions  of  mil- 
lions of  times,  and  can  never  wax  old,  never  perish,  never  be  worn 
out,  and  can  never  stand  still  in  all  eternity.  Whereas  you  can  con- 
clude and  find  out  by  reflexion  this  all-discomforting,  all-terrible, 
and  all-cruelest  infinity  of  hell-torture.  One  might  grow  mad  and 
insane  when  considering  this  fiery  eternity  and  these  iron  eternal 
years,  etc.,  etc." 

Dr.  Schottel's  Wheel  of  Life  is  of  special  interest  as 
it  reminds  one  of  the  Buddhist  Wheel  of  Life  which  the 
Evil  Spirit  holds  in  his  clutches.* 

Similar  ideas  as  to  the  awfulness  of  the  sufferings  in 
hell  are  offered  in  the  sermons  of  Abraham  a  Sancta- 
Clara  who  was  the  most  influential  preacher  in  Vienna 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  eighteenth  century  is  the  age  of  an  intellectual 

*Conipare  the  illustrations  on  pages  119,  121,  and  123. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  387 

dawn,  but  while  the  rays  of  li.iiht  betjin  to  spi^ead  the 
shadows  of  the  uight  linger  and  their  darkness  seems 
rather  more  intense  than  before. 

The  Rev.  Father  Gilbert  Baur,  writes  in  the  year 
1785  as  follows : 

"You  know  what  happens  when  meat  is  salted.  The  salt  en- 
ters all  parts,  every  nerve  and  every  bone,  and  communicates  to 
all  parts  its  acrid  qualities  ;  and  yet  the  meat  is  not  dissolved  nor 
annihilated  by  the  salt,  but  on  the  contrary  preserved  from  decay. 
In  the  same  way  the  hellish  fire  will  enter  into  the  innermost  mar- 
row, and  be  distributed  throughout  the  entrails.  It  will  take  hold 
of  all  the  arteries  and  nerves  and  make  the  brain  boil  with  furious 
pains,  without  causing  death  or  annihilation." 

Some  theological  geographers  have  placed  hell  in 
the  sun,  others  in  the  moon,  still  others  in  the  center  of 
the  earth.  But  the  question  as  to  which  of  the  three 
opinions  is  right  has  not  yet  been  decided. 

A  Slavonian  folk  song  sings  of  hell  as  follows:* 

"Look  at  the  terrible  maw  !  How  fiery  and  deep  is  the  place 
of  torture  !     No  eye  can  discover  its  bottom. 

"A  spark  alone  causes  immense  pain,  but  against  the  fury  of 
this  fire  it  is  but  a  dewdrop. 

"Reason  cannot  comprehend  and  tongue  cannot  utter  what  it 
may  be  to  be  in  the  fires  of  Hell. 

"Devils  transform  themselves  into  dogs,  into  wild  animals, 
into  snakes  and  dragons  ;  they  howl,  and  they  bellow,  and  they 
bawl ;  what  terrors  they  cause  ! 

"Every  poor  sinner  must  pay  tribute  here  to  the  justice  of 
God;  and  for  every  vicious  deed  he  must  suffer  special  pain." 

After  an  enumeration  of  the  sufferings  for  various 
sins  and  vices,  the  poem  continues: 

*  Quoted  in  a  German  translation  by  Scheible.  Vol    I  ,  p.  208  ff. 


388 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-rROSECUTION.  389 

"Can  there  be  worse  misery?  Indeed,  there  is  not;  for  from 
this  place  of  darkness  the  eye  of  the  damned  will  never  see  the 
face  of  God. 

"  'Woe,  woe!'  thus  they  howl;  'Whither  have  we  gone,  we 
miserable  creatures?  Oh  !  that  men  would  believe  us;  they  would 
never  fall  into  sin. ' 

"'Death,  where  art  thou?  O.  thunder-bolts,  slay  us!  O, 
God,  we  want  to  die,  for  we  cannot  endure  these  pains  !' 

"Alas!  In  vain  you  wish  for  death,  )'e  souls  lost  in  eternity. 
You  are  damned  to  live,  eternally  dyinf;. 

"Even  a  toothache  you  could  not  endure  forever.  How  much 
more  terrible  must  be  the  fire  everlasting  ' 

"Consider  then,  O  sinner,  the  misery  that  awaits  you.  Who 
knows  whether  yon  may  not  reach  your  destiny  to-morrow? 

"To-night  you  go  to  bed  in  your  sin,  and  to-morrow  you  may 
wake  up  burning  in  the  fires  of  Hell." 

These  descriptious  of  hell  are,  in  all  their  essential 
features,  still  current  in  "darkest  Europe"  and  also  in 
"darkest  America."  The  picture  of  hell,  here  repro- 
duced, surpasses  in  drastic  beauty-  and  grandeur  of  stage- 
effect  the  paintings  of  the  famous  Hell  Breughel.  It  pos- 
sesses the  additional  interest  of  being  still  in  the  market, 
being  even  now  advertised  and  sold  among  other  reli- 
gious pictures. 

No  wonder  that  there  are  good  Christians  who  would 
gladly  change  places  with  brute  animals.  A  young  Jesuit 
who  afterwards  turned  Prostestant  said  in  his  memoirs 
that  he  used  to  env}-  the  watch  dog  in  the  courtyard 
to  whom  death  meant  annihilation  without  the  terrors  of 
hell. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  moral  courage  in  the  comfort 
which,  as  the  story  goes,   an  old  infidel  farmer  gave  to 


390  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

his  dying  son,  saying:  "We  do  not  go  to  church,  and 
the  parson  hates  us ;  now,  when  you  die  you  will  go  to 
hell;  but  don't  shame  our  family  by  howling  and  gnash- 
ing of  teeth.  What  others  can  stand  we  can  stand  too." 
Must  not  the  Lord  have  been  better  pleased  with  infidel 
grit  than  with  the  submissiveness  of  the  slavish  believer? 

Schwenter  and  Kircher. 

The  Jesuit  order  carries  the  principle  of  Romanism 
and  obedience  to  church-authorities  to  extremes.  It  was 
founded  for  the  purpose  of  creating  and  sustaining  a 
counter- reformation  to  Protestantism,  and  to  Protestants 
therefore  it  is  the  most  objectionable  Roman  Catholic 
order.  But  whatever  may  be  said  against  the  Jesuits, 
their  methods  and  narrow  principles,  we  must  acknowl- 
edge that  some  of  their  members  have  been  very  promi- 
nent and  scholarly  men ;  and  Athanasius  Kircher  is  one 
of  the  greatest  scientists  they  have  produced.  Born  at 
Geisa,  near  Fulda,  Germany,  in  1601,  he  was  professor 
of  philosophy  and  mathematics  at  the  University  of 
Wiirzburg,  which  he  left  during  the  Thirty  Years'  War, 
for  Avignon,  in  France.  He  journeyed  with  Cardinal 
Frederick  of  Saxony  to  Malta,  and  ended  his  life  as  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics  and  Hebrew  at  Rome.  His  inves- 
tigations have  no  direct,  but  only  an  indirect,  bearing  on 
witchcraft-prosecutions.  He  made  some  curious  experi- 
ments with  hens  and  pigeons,  which  remained  a  problem 
to  psychologists,  and  are  still  repeated  by  them  to-day. 
He  placed  a  hen  on  the  floor,  and  made  a  stroke  of  chalk 
along  its  bill,  whereupon  the  hen  lay  ciuiet  as  if  ]iara- 
lyscd,  remaining  in   lliis  awkward  position  until  she  was 


THE  ABOLITION  OK  WITClI-l'ROSECUTION. 


391 


released    by   some   motion    of    the   bands   of  tbe  experi- 
menter. 

We  ougbt  to  add  bere  tbat  altbougb  Kircber  is  gen- 
erally credited  witb  tbe  invention  of  tbis  experiment  be- 
cause it  became  known  mainly  tbrougb  bim,*  Professor 
Preyer  bas  proved  tbat  be  simply  reproduced  the  experi- 
ment made  by  Daniel  Scbwenter,t  who  published  bis  dis- 


Schwenter's  Hen  Experiment.  Reproduced  by  Father  Athanasius  Kircher. 


covery  ten  3'ears  before  tbe  appearance  of  Kircber's  Ars 
Magna  Liicis  ct  Unibrcp. 

Tbe  attitude  of  the  hen,  which  Kircber  ascribes  to 
her  imagination,  was  later,  in  the  eighteenth  ceutur}^, 
called  a  phenomenon  of  magnetism  or  mesmerism,  and  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  hypnotism.      Whatever  scientific 

*  See  the  chapter  "A  Marvellous  Experiment  with  the  Imagination  of  a  Hen 
(Experimenliim  Mirabile  de  Jmaifinationc  Ga/liuu),  in  Kircher's  Ars  Magna 
Lucis  et  Umbric,  Rome,  1646. 

■f  See  Daniel  Schwenter,  Dc/ia're  Physico-Maihcmah'cic,  eic.     Nurnberg,  1636 


392 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


value  this  isolated  fact  may  possess,  its  discoveiy  marked 
the  beginning  of  a  scientific  treatment  of  psychical  phe- 
nomena which  naturall}'  tended  to  a  better  comprehension 
of  the  abnormal  conditions  of  the  human  mind,  and  thus 
could  not  but  exercise  a  wholesome  influence. 


Diabolism  Developing  Into  Pathology. 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  centur}-  Pater  John 
Joseph  Gassner,  vicar  of  Klosterle  in   Chur,  a  Roman 

Catholic  clergyman,  acted 


on  the  theory  that  the  ma- 
jority of  diseases  arose  from 
demoniacal  possession  and 
he  cured  himself  and  his 
parishioners  by  exorcism. 
The  success  of  his  cures 
made  a  great  stir  in  the 
world  aud  threatened  a 
dangerous  reaction.  Some 
declared  he  was  a  charla- 
tan, while  others  believed 
in  him. 

Mesmer,  at  the  request 
of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria, 
made  investigations  and 
said  that  he  explained  his 
miracles  as  spiritualistic 
magnetic  influences,  while 


Etching  by  Daniel  Chodowieclii. 


Lavater  maintained  that  the  curative  element  consisted 
solely  in  the  glorious  name  of  Jesus.  Gassner  lived  some 
tiuie  in  Constance,  afterwards   in  Ratisbon,  partly  pro- 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  393 

tected,  partly  distrusted  by  his  ecclesiastical  superiors. 
In  1775  He  went  to  Amberg,  then  to  Sulzbach,  where  the 
halo  of  his  miraculous  cures  waned.  The  Prince-Bishop 
of  Ratisbon  declared  in  his  favor,  but  Emperor  Joseph  II. 
forbade  his  exorcisms  in  the  whole  Roman  empire.  The 
Archbishops  of  Prague  and  Salzburg  rejected  him,  and 
even  Pope  Pius  VI.  disappi-oved  of  him. 

Gassner's  exorcisms  renewed  the  interest  taken  in 
the  problem  of  the  existence  of  the  Devil.  The  question 
was  discussed  in  several  publications,  among  which  we 
mention  ' '  a  humble  petition  for  information  to  the  great 
men  who  do  no  longer  believe  in  a  Devil,"  written 
anonymously  from  the  orthodox  standpoint  by  Professor 
Koster,  of  Giessen,  editor  of  a  religious  periodical.  It 
was  answered  in  another  pamphlet :  ' '  Humble  reply  of  a 
country-clergyman,"  whose  author  claims  that  the  bib- 
lical Satan  is  an  allegory,  idols  are  called  "  nothings  "  in 
Hebrew,  and  the  Devil  is  one  of  these  nothings.  He 
offers  rationalistic  explanations  of  the  Bible,  represent- 
ing, for  instance,  the  tempter  of  Christ  as  "a  sly  mes- 
senger and  spy  of  the  synagogue,"  and  declaring  the 
theory  of  a  Devil  to  be  idolatry  disguised  in  orthodoxy, 
and  a  sublimated  Manicheeism.  The  author  concludes: 
"I  had  rather  that  the  people  fear  God  than  the  Devil. 
The  fear  of  God  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  but  the  fear 
of  the  Devil,  whatever  be  its  results,  is  no  Christian 
adornment." 

The  number  of  anti-diabolists  increased  rapidly,  even 
among  the  clergy ;  yet  the  belief  in  a  personal  Devil  re- 
mained the  orthodox  view,  and  if  we  are  not  mistaken  it 
is  still  regarded  as  an  essential  dogma  of  the  Christian 


394  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

faith  by  many  theologians,  especially  among  those  who 
display  a  contempt  for  worldly  culture  and  secular  science. 

The  worst  superstitions  had  grown  harmless,  but  the 
hankering  after  miracles  had  not  yet  ceased.  Diabolism 
had  lost  its  hold  on  mankind,  but  mysticism  reappeared 
in  new  forms ;  and  the  contrasts  that  prevailed  in  the 
eighteenth  century  cannot  be  better  characterised  than 
by  the  visions  of  Swedenborg  as  against  the  refutation  of 
the  dreams  of  visionaries  by  Kant. 

The  belief  in  mysticism  begets  frauds  ;  and  the  bold- 
est, wiliest,  and  most  successful  imposter  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  was  Giuseppe  Balsamo  of  Sicily,  who 
travelled  under  the  assumed  name  of  Count  Cagliostro, 
finding  easy  victims  among  the  credulous  of  all  descrip- 
tions, especially  the  Free  Masons.  His  tricks,  however, 
were  exposed  by  Countess  Elizabeth  von  der  Recke,  and 
being  thereafter  exiled  from  every  country  which  he  en- 
tered, he  fell  at  last  into  the  hands  of  the  Inquisition,  as 
whose  prisoner  he  died  in  the  year  1795. 

Dcnionology  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

The  free-thought  movement  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  a  better  scientific  conception  of  nature  relieved 
mankind  of  the  unnecessary  fear  of  the  Devil,  and  the 
nineteenth  century  could  begin  to  study  the  question  im- 
partially in  its  historical  and  philosophical  foundations. 

Kant  found  the  principle  of  evil  in  the  reversal  of 
the  moral  world-order.  "The  Scriptures  lay  down,"  he 
says,  "man's  moral  relation  in  the  form  of  a  history, 
representing  the  opposite  principles  in  man  as  eternal 
facts,  as  heaven  and  hell.      The  significance  of  this  ])opu- 


THE  ABOLITION  OK  WITCH-PROSKCUTION.  395 

lar  conception,  dropping  all  mysticism,  is  that  there  is 
bnt  one  salvation  for  man,  which  lies  in  his  embracing  in 
his  heart  the  moral  maxims." 

Following  the  example  of  Kant,  theologians  began 
to  give  a  rational  explanation  of  the  Devil.  Daub,  a  dis- 
ciple of  Schelling,  attempted  to  construct  a  philosophical 
devil,  in  his  book  Judas  Iscariot.,  or  Evil  in  its  Relation 
to  Goodness^  defining  Satan,  the  Antichrist  and  enemy  of 
God,  as  the  hatred  of  all  that  is  good. 

Schenkel  regards  the  Evil  One  as  a  manifestation 
that  appears  in  the  totality  of  things,  and  characterises 
him  as  that  which  is  collectively  bad.  "Satan,  accord- 
ingly, is  a  'juridical  person,'  "  and  this  explains  his  ex- 
traordinary and  superindividual  power;  but  he  has  not 
as  yet  succeeded  in  becoming  a  single,  concrete  personal- 
ity, and  let  us  hope  that  he  probably  never  will.  Hase 
does  not  deny  the  possibility  of  an  influence  of  spiritual 
powers,  good  as  well  as  evil,  upon  man,  "but,"  says  he, 
"the  Devil  appears  only  when  he  is  believed  to  exist; 
and  the  effects  of  his  influence  being  explicable  only  in 
the  light  of  man's  nature,  the  reality  of  such  beings  re- 
mains problematic . ' ' 

Reinhard,  although  inclined  to  supernaturalism, 
doubts  whether  the  Scriptural  Devil  is  to  be  taken  seri- 
ously ;  and  De  Wette  speaks  of  the  Devil  as  a  popular 
conception  {]^olksvorstelliing) .  Schleiermacher  in  his  fa- 
mous work  The  Christian  Faith  According  to  the  Doc- 
trines of  the  Evangelical  Church  (1821;  fourth  edition, 
1842)  declares  the  idea  of  the  Devil,  as  historically  de- 
veloped, to  be  "  untenable  "  and  "  unessential  to  a  Chris- 
tian's belief  in  God." 


396  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Martensen  believes  in  the  Devil  not  as  an  idea,  Ijut 
as  an  "  historical  person."  He  is  in  the  beginning  only 
the  pi'inciple  of  temptation ;  as  such  he  is  a  cosniical 
principle.  He  is  not  yet  bad,  but  the  potentiality  of  bad- 
ness. He  does  not  really  become  the  Devil  until  man  has 
allowed  him  to  enter  his  consciousness.  Man,  accord- 
ingly, gives  existence  to  the  Devil.  Liicke  opposes  Mar- 
tensen: "  The  Devil  as  a  s^'mbol  is  absolutely  bad,  but 
as  a  fallen  creature  he  cannot  be  absolutely  bad.  We 
have  no  other  conception  of  the  Devil  than  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  sin."  This  is  an  attempt  to  reconcile  the 
theological  conception  with  the  philosophy  of  his  time. 

David  Friedrich  Strauss  did  not  consider  it  necessary 
to  refute  the  doctrine  of  Satan's  personality,  which  he  re- 
garded as  utterly  overthrown.  Modern  mysticism,  on 
the  other  hand,  shows  an  inclination  to  emphasise  the 
importance  of  the  traditional  Satanology. 

Dogmatic  theologians  in  the  ranks  of  English  and 
American  Protestants  endeavor  to  preserve  the  traditional 
views  of  hell  and  the  Devil,  without,  however,  making 
much  practical  use  of  these  doctrines.  They  no  longer 
discuss  the  problem  at  length  but  still  uphold  the  belief 
in  the  personality  of  the  Evil  One.  For  instance.  Pro- 
fessor Schaff  scarcely  enters  into  a  detailed  exposition  of 
the  subject,  and  Dr.  William  G.  T.  Shedd,  who  devotes 
in  his  great  work  Dogmatic  Theology  one  or  several  chap- 
ters  to  every  Christian  dogma,  omits  a  particular  discus- 
sion of  Satan.  Passages  in  the  chapter  on  hell  neverthe- 
less prove  that  he  believes  in  both  a  personal  Satan  and 
an  eternal  personal  punishment  on  the  ground  of  scrip- 
tural evidence. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  397 

The  liberal  theoloj^y  of  to-day  urges  tliat  Jesus 
makes  thirst  for  justice,  love  of  God  and  man,  the  condi- 
tions for  entering  into  the  Kingdom  of  God.  A  belief  in 
the  Devil,  it  is  claimed,  is  nowhere  demanded  and  can,  to 
say  the  least,  not  be  regarded  as  essential;  it  is  not  so 
much  Christian  and  Jewish,  as  pagan;  it  is  a  survival 'of 
polytheistic  nature-worship  and  of  pagan  dualism,  quite 
natural  at  a  time  when  the  sciences  were  still  in  their 
infancy,  characterised  by  astrology  and  alchemy,  and 
when  the  irrefragability  of  nature's  laws  was  not  as  yet 
understood.  The  belief  in  a  personal  Devil,  accordingly, 
and  all  the  practices  resulting  therefrom,  were  rather  due 
to  ignorance  than  to  religion. 

There  are  still  plenty  of  believers  in  a  personal 
Devil  among  those  who  call  themselves  orthodox,  but 
their  influence  has  ceased  to  be  of  any  consequence. 
Vilmar  regards  the  belief  in  an  individual  devilish  per- 
sonality as  an  indispensable  qualification  of  a  real  theo- 
logian, saying:  "In  order  rightly  to  teach  and  take 
charge  of  souls,  one  must  have  seen  the  Devil  gnashing 
his  teeth,  and  I  mean  it  bodily,  not  figuratively;  he 
must  have  felt  his  power  over  poor  souls,  his  blasphemy, 
especially  his  sneer."  Similarly,  another  German  theo- 
logian, Superintendent  Sanders,  shows  great  zeal  in  de- 
fence of  the  Biblical  Devil  in  his  pamphlet  The  Doc- 
trine of  the  Scriptures  Coiiceriring  the  Devil  (1S58) ,  and 
Dr.  Sartorius,  following  Hengstenberg's  orthodoxy,  sa.ys 
that,  "he  who  denies  Satan  cannot  truly  confess  Christ." 
Twesten,  however,  although  accepting  the  belief  in  a  per- 
sonal Devil,  concedes  that  the  necessity  of  his  existence 
cannot  be  deduced  from  the  contents  of  our  religious  con- 


398  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

sciousness.  Fr.  Reiff  ( in  Zeitfragen  dcs  christlichen 
Volkslebensi  VI.,  1,  1880)  declares  that  there  is  a  King- 
dom of  Evil  as  much  as  there  is  a  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  belief  in  a  personal  Prince  of  Darkness  is  the  coun- 
terpart of  a  personal  God.  And  Erhard  wrote  an  apol- 
ogy of  the  Devil,  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  the  Devil 
as  for  the  traditional  idea  that  evil  and  sin  are  actualities. 

Present   Conditions. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  to-day  still  holds  in 
theory  the  same  views  as  in  the  IMiddle  Ages ;  but  the 
secular  authorities  will  never  again  allow  themselves  to 
be  influenced  in  their  legal  proceedings  by  the  opinions 
of  inquisitors. 

Gorres,'''  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  modern  defend- 
ers of  the  Roman  Church,  complains  about  "  the  purely 
medical  view ' '  of  historians  who  regard  witch-prosecu- 
tion as  a  mere  epidemic.  He  finds  the  ultimate  cause 
of  witchcraft  and  sorcery  in  apostacy  from  the  Church, 
which  had  become  fashionable  in  those  days.  Dr.  Haas, 
another  Roman  Catholic,  takes  the  same  view  in  his  in- 
quiry into  witch-prosecution. t  He  concedes  that  witch- 
craft is  a  revival  of  pagan  notions  mixed  with  a  false  con- 
ception of  Christianity  (p.  68) ,  but  he  still  shares  with 
the  inquisitors  of  yore  and  with  Pope  Innocent  III.  the 
belief  in  the  actuality  of  witchcraft.  Like  Gorres,  Haas 
regards  "witchcraft  as  the  product  of  heresy,"  and  calls 
the  former  ' '  a  cousin ' '  and  ' '  a  daughter ' '  of  the  latter. 
Both  to  him   result   from  "unbelief,  unclearness,  pride, 

*  Die  Hcxenprocesse,  ein  culturhistori'schcr  I'ersuc/t.     Tiil>ingen.      1865. 
f  Quoted  from  Roskoff,  p   239,  from  Chyistliche  Mystik,  III.,  66. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  399 

eccentricity."  Both  are  manias  or  illusions  {JFahn- 
geschopfc)  ;  "they  maltreat  and  are  maltreated,  and  thus 
they  increase  until  they  are  opposed  with  reason  and 
vigor."  The  only  trouble  was  that  the  remedy  of  in- 
quisitorial "reason  and  vigor"  was  worse  than  the  dis- 
ease. Haas  continues:  "For  the  minds  of  many  were 
not  yet  free  from  error  (i.  e.,  heresy),  and  when  the 
house  was  swept  and  cleaned  worse  spirits  entered,  and 
matters  were  worse  than  ever." 

The  Inquisition,  the  natural  result  of  a  belief  in  the 
Devil,  is  now  powerless;  "still,"  says  the  Rev.  G.  W. 
Kitchin,  in  the  Encyclopcrdia  Britannica: 

"Its  voice  is  sometimes  heard  ;  in  1856  Pius  IX.  issued  an  en- 
cyclical against  somnambulism  and  clairvoyance,  calling  on  all 
bishops  to  inquire  into  and  suppress  the  scandal,  and  in  1865  he 
uttered  an  anathema  against  freemasons,  the  secular  foes  of  the 
Inquisition." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Kitchin  sums  up  the  present  state  of 
things  as  follows : 

"The  occupation  of  Rome  in  1870  drove  the  papacy  and  the 
Inquisition  into  the  Vatican,  and  there  at  last  John  Bunyan's  vision 
seems  to  have  found  fulfilment.  Yet,  though  powerless,  the  insti- 
tution is  not  hopeless;  the  Catholic  writers  on  the  subject,  after 
long  silence  or  uneasy  apology,  now  acknowledge  the  facts  and 
seek  to  justify  them.  In  the  early  times  of  the  'Holy  Office'  its 
friends  gave  it  high  honor;  Paramo,  the  inquisitor,  declares  that  it 
began  with  Adam  and  Eve  ere  they  left  Paradise ;  Paul  IV.  an- 
nounced that  the  Spanish  Inquisition  was  founded  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  Muzarelli  calls  it  'an  indispensable  sub- 
stitute to  the  Church  for  the  original  gift  of  miracles  exercised  by 
the  apostles.'  And  now  again,  from  1875  to  this  day,  a  crowd  of 
defenders  has  risen  up  :   Father  Wieser  and  the  Insbruck  Jesuits  in 


400  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

their  journal  (1877)  yearn  for  its  re-establishment;  Orti  y  Lara  in 
Spain,  the  Benedictine  Gams  in  Germa'ny,  and  C.  Poullet  in  Bel- 
gium take  the  same  tone ;  it  is  a  remarkable  phenomenon,  due 
partly  to  despair  at  the  progress  of  society,  partly  to  the  fanaticism 
of  the  late  pope,  Pius  IX.  It  is  hardly  credible  that  any  one  can 
really  hope  and  expect  to  see  in  the  future  the  irresponsible  judg- 
ments of  clerical  intolerance  again  humbly  carried  out,  even  to  the 
death,  by  the  secular  arm." 

Roman  Catholic  authors  are,  as  a  rule,  too  worldly 
wise  to  precipitate  or  provoke  a  discussion  of  the  history 
of  either  the  Inquisition  or  the  doctrine  of  the  Devil,  but 
whenever  they  cannot  avoid  a  discussion  of  the  subject 
they  claim  that  the  Inquisition  was  a  secular  institution 
(so  Gams  of  Ratisbon  and  Bishop  Hefele) ,  or  defend  the 
measures  taken  by  the  Inquisition.  They  have  not  as 
yet  acquired  sufficient  insight,  or,  if  they  have  the  in- 
sight, they  do  not  possess  the  moral  courage  to  condemn 
the  whole  institution,  and  with  it  the  policy  of  the  Popes 
Innocent  III.,  Gregory  IX.,  Urban  IV.,  John  XXII., 
and  others  whose  names  are  compromised  in  matters  of 
witch-prosecution. 

Devil-exorcism  is  not  yet  extinct  in  Roman  Catholic 
countries.  The  exorcism  performed  in  Germany  by 
Father  Aurelian  on  Michael  Zilk,  the  son  of  a  Catholic 
Father  and  Protestant  mother,  with  the  especial  permis- 
sion of  the  Bishop  Leopold  von  Eichstadt,  is  a  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  Egyptian  darkness  that  still  penetrates 
the  minds  of  a  great  mass  of  our  Christian  bi'ethren, 
among  them  members  of  the  higher  clergy.* 

*Dic  Tciifclsaustreibiniff  in  lVc7-iiclii'e.  Nach  den  Berichten  des  P.  Aurelian 
fUr  das  VolU  critisch  beleuchtet  von  Richard  Treufels.  Munich,  Schuh  &  Co.  1892. 
This  curious  treatise  can  no  longer  be  obtained  in  the  book-market. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  401 

Mr.  E.  P.  Evans,  who  quotes  the  curious  occur- 
rence,* furnishes  another  interesting  fact.     He  says: 

"Pope  Leo  XIII.  is  justly  regarded  as  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  intelligence  and  more  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  modern 
spirit  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  yet  he  composed  and  issued, 
November  ig,  i8go,  a  formula  of  an  'Exorcismus  i?t  Satanam  et  An- 
gelas Apostatas.'  His  Holiness  never  fails  to  repeat  this  exorcism 
in  his  daily  prayers,  and  commends  it  to  the  bishops  and  other 
clergy  as  a  potent  means  of  warding  off  the  attacks  of  Satan  and 
casting  out  devils.  " 

The  holy  coat  of  Treves  is  still  exercising  its  power 
over  the  minds  of  many  credulous  people  and  works  mir- 
acles that  are  seriously  believed,  while  the  dancing-pro- 
cession of  Echternach  is  not  only  not  abolished  but  en- 
couraged by  the  Church.  Pope  Leo  XIII.  has  granted  a 
six  years'  absolution  to  all  those  who  take  part  in  the 
performance.  There  are  on  an  average  about  ten  thou- 
sand persons  who  annually  join  in  this  stupid  survival 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  personal  Devil  is  dead  in  science,  but  he  is  still 
alive  even  in  Protestant  countries  among  the  uneducated, 
and  the  number  of  those  who  belong  to  this  category  is 
legion.  The  Salvation  Army  is  still  in  our  midst  sing- 
ing: 

"Come  join  our  army,  the  foe  must  be  driven  ; 

To  Jesus,  our  captain,  the  world  shall  be  given. 

If  hell  should  surround  us  we'll  press  through  the  throng. 

The  Salvation  Army  is  marching  along." 

The  following  vigorous  verse  reminds  one  of  Par- 
seeism : 

*Populay  Science  Afonthly,  December,  1892.  p.  161. 


402  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"Christian,  rouse  thee,  war  is  raging, 
God  and  fiends  are  battle  waging, 
Every  ransomed  power  engaging, 

Break  the  Tempter's  spell. 
Dare  ye  still  lie  fondly  dreaming. 
Wrapt  in  ease  and  worldly  scheming, 
While  the  multitudes  are  streaming 

Downwards  into  hell?" 

A  good  illustration  of  tlieir  personal  attitude  towards 
tlie  Evil  One  appears  in  these  lines : 

"  The  Devil  and  me,  we  can't  agree, 
I  hate  him  and  he  hates  me. 
He  had  me  once,  but  he  let  me  go, 
He  wants  me  again,  but  I  will  not  go." 

The  Devil  of  the  Salvation  Army  proves  that  there 
is  still  a  need  of  representing  spiritual  ideas  in  drastic 
allegories ;  but  though  Satan  is  still  painted  in  glaring 
colors,  he  has  become  harmless  and  will  inaugurate  no 
more  witch-prosecutions.  He  is  curbed  and  caged,  so 
that  he  can  do  no  more  mischief.  We  smile  at  him  as  we 
do  at  a  tiger  behind  the  bars  in  a  zoological  garden. 

Tlic  Religious  Import  of  Science. 

The  inquisitors  and  witch-prosecutors  were  by  no 
means  scoundrels  pure  and  simple.  Most  assuredlj^  there 
were  scoundrels  among  them ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  movement  of  the  Inquisition  and  witch-prosecution 
took  its  origin  from  purer  motives.  It  was  to  the  popes 
and  grand  inquisitors  and  to  many  princes  and  other 
people  who  promoted  the  policy,  a  matter  of  conscience; 
they  simply  attended  to  it  as  a  religious  duty,  sometimes 
even  with  a  heavy  heart  and  not  without  great  pain. 


THK  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  403 

Torquemada,  the  grand  inquisitor  of  Spain,  was  in 
his  private  life  one  of  the  purest  and  most  conscientious 
of  men,  and  he  was  so  tender-hearted  that  he  was  obliged 
to  leave  the  inquisitorial  tribunal  and  quit  the  room  as 
soon  as  the  torture  of  a  heretic  began.  He  would  cry 
about  the  obstinacy  of  those  who  had  given  themselves 
over  to  Satan ;  but  though  his  heart  was  bleeding,  he 
condemned  thousands  and  thousands  to  the  crudest  tor- 
tures and  the  most  dreadful  death  for  the  sake  of  salva- 
tion and  the  glory  of  God — of  that  monster-god  in  whom 
he  believed,  that  abominable  idol  which  was  worse  than 
the  Moloch  of  ancient  Phcenicia. 

When  complaints  reached  Pope  Innocent  III.  about 
the  cruelty  of  Conrad  of  Marburg,  the  first  Inquisitor 
General  of  Germany,  he  said,  "  the  Germans  were  always 
furious  and  therefore  needed  furious  judges."  Pope  Leo 
X.,  referring  to  cases  of  witchcraft  that  happened  in 
Brixen  and  Bergamo,  grieves  in  a  brief  of  1521  at  "the 
obstinacy  of  the  culprits,  who  would  rather  die  than  con- 
fess their  crimes."  In  the  same  document  the  Holy  Fa- 
ther complains  about  the  impiety  of  the  Venetian  Senate 
who  prevented  the  inquisitors  from  performing  their  du- 
ties. And  similar  expressions  are  not  infrequent  in  later 
papal  bulls  and  briefs,  all  of  which  prove  that  the  horrors 
of  the  Inquisition  are  ultimately  due,  not  to  ill  will  or 
even  to  the  desire  for  power,  but  to  error  which  had  as- 
sumed the  shape  of  a  deep-seated  religious  conviction. 

Among  the  Protestants,  the  Calvinists  come  nearest 
in  zeal  to  the  Roman  Catholic  inquisitors.  In  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  the  home  of  Calvin,  five  hundred  persons 
were,  within  three  months,  executed  for  heresv  and  witch- 


404  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

craft.  The  protocols  of  the  city  in  the  year  1545  declare 
that  the  labor  of  tortiire  and  execution  exceeded  the 
strength  of  the  hangman ;  and  the  complaint  is  made 
that,  "whatever  torture  be  applied,  the  malefactors  still 
refuse  to  confess." 

The  facts  of  witch-prosecution  with  its  kindred  su- 
perstitions are  an  object  lesson.  How  mistaken  are  those 
who  believe  that  religion  has  nothing  to  do  with  ethics, 
and  that  a  religious  conviction  exercises  no  influence 
upon  a  man's  conduct!  There  are  ethicists,  professors 
of  ethics,  and  ethical  preachers,  who  imagine  that  ethics 
may  be  taught  without  teaching  religion,  and  that  the 
morality  of  the  people  can  be  improved  without  an  inter- 
ference with  their  convictions  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
world  and  the  import  of  life.  But  a  wrong  world-concep- 
tion will  beget  a  wrong  morality ;  a  false  religion  will 
unfailingly  produce  bad  and  injurious  ethics ;  and  the 
grossest  errors  will,  if  they  have  their  way,  find  expres- 
sion in  the  grossest  abominations  of  misguided  conduct. 
A  radical  cure  on  the  other  hand  must  go  to  the  root  of 
the  evil.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  remove  the  symptoms  of 
the  disease,  you  must  replace  false  religion  by  true  reli- 
gion. 

It  would  not  do  to  say  with  our  agnostic  friends  that 
religion  is  concerned  with  matters  unknowable ;  and  that 
therefore  we  must  leave  it  alone !  Religion  is  the  most 
important  problem  of  life,  and  we  can  ignore  it  as  little 
as  a  reckless  storage  of  dynamite  in  crowded  parts  of 
great  cities.  We  must  investigate  the  religious  problem 
and  replace  the  old  errors  with  their  dualistic  supersti- 
tions by  sound  and  scientifically  correct  views.     At  the 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  WITCH-PROSECUTION.  405 

bottom  of  all  tlie  terrors  of  the  Inquisition  and  witch- 
prosecution  lies  a  serious  endeavor  to  do  what  is  right ; 
and  this  power  can  be  utilised  as  well  for  the  progress 
and  elevation  of  mankind  as  for  the  suppression  of  reason 
and  sound  judgment. 

Religion  is  the  strongest  motive  power  in  the  world ; 
nothing  therefore  is  more  injurious  than  false  religious 
convictions,  and  nothing  more  desirable  than  truth. 

Let  us  make  the  love  of  truth  our  religion.  Beware 
of  mysticism  and  endeavor  to  be  clear  and  exact.  There 
is  as  little  truth  in  mysticism  as  there  is  light  in  fog. 
Nor  should  we  rely  on  tradition,  for  tradition  is  uncer- 
tain, but  the  truth  (i.  e.,  generalised  statements  of  facts 
or  laws  of  nature)  can  be  made  unequivocally  certain  and 
will  remain  verifiable  to  every  competent  inquirer.  It  is 
man's  duty,  in  all  departments  of  life,  to  seek  the  truth 
with  the  best  and  most  scientific  methods  at  his  disposal, 
and  the  adherence  to  this  principle  is  ' '  the  Religion  of 
Science." 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  confidence  in  science  has  al- 
ready become  a  religious  conviction  with  most  of  us. 
The  faith  in  scientifically  provable  truth  has  slowly,  very 
slowly,  and  by  almost  imperceptible  degrees,  but  steadily 
and  surely,  taken  root  in  the  hearts  of  men.  To-daj^  it  is 
the  most  powerful  factor  of  our  civilisation,  in  spite  of 
various  church-dogmas  which  are  declared  to  be  above 
scientific  critique  and  argument ;  for  these  dogmas  are 
becoming  a  dead  letter.  There  are  several  conservative 
and  prominent  churchmen  who  publicly  confess  that  the 
dogmas  of  the  Church  must  be  regarded  as  historical  doc- 
uments and  not  as  eternal  verities. 


406  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVII.. 

Those  who  doubt  the  religious  import  of  science 
need  only  consider  what  science  has  done  for  mankind  by 
the  radical  abolition  of  witch-proseci:tion,  and  they  will 
be  convinced  that  science  is  not  religiously  indifferent, 
but  that  it  is  the  most  powerful  factor  in  the  purification 
of  the  I'eligions  of  mankind. 

The  world-conception  of  our  industrial  and  social 
life,  of  international  intercourse,  and  all  serious  move- 
ments on  the  lines  of  human  progress,  has  even  now  to  a 
great  extent  practically  become  the  Religion  of  Science, 
although  the  fact  is  not  as  yet  definitely  and  openl}^ 
acknowledged  ;  and  any  sectarian  faith  that  endeavors  to 
set  forth  its  claim  of  recognition  does  it  and  can  do  it 
only  on  the  ground  that  it  is  one  with  scientific  truth. 
For  there  is  nothing  universally  true,  nothing  catholic, 
nothing  genuinely  orthodox,  except  those  truths  that  are 
positively  demonstrated  by  science. 


-*>■ 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE. 


THE  DEVIL  in  folklore  is  entitled  to  our  ungrudg- 
ing admiration  for  his  indefatigable  energy.  There 
are  innumerable  devil-stones  thrown  at  churches,  there 
are  devil-walls,  devil-bridges,  cathedrals,  monasteries, 
castles,  dikes,  and  mills,  built  by  him  for  the  purpose  of 
seducing  and  gaining  souls.  He  has  had  his  finger  in 
the  pie  everywhere  and  appears  to  be  all  but  omnipresent 
and  omniscient. 

In  popular  literature  the  Devil  plays  a  most  impor- 
tant role.  While  he  is  still  regarded  as  the  incarnation 
of  all  physical  and  moral  evil,  his  main  oiBce  has  become 
that  of  a  general  mischief-worker  in  the  universe ;  with- 
out him  there  would  be  no  plot,  and  the  story  of  the 
world  would  lose  its  interest.  He  appeal's  as  the  critic  of 
the  good  Lord,  as  the  representative  of  discontent  with 
existing  conditions,  he  inspires  men  with  the  desire  for 
an  increase  of  wealth,  power,  and  knowledge;  he  is  the 
mouth-piece  of  all  who  are  anxious  for  a  change  in  mat- 
ters political,  social,  and  ecclesiastical.  He  is  identified 
with  the  spirit  of  progress  so  inconvenient  to  those  who 
are  satisfied  with  the  existing  state  of  things,  and  thus 


408  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL.  ' 

he  is  credited  with  innovations  of  all  kinds,  the  aspiration 
for  improvement  as  well  as  the  desire  for  the  overthrow 
of  law  and  order.  In  a  word,  he  is  characterised  as  the 
patron  of  both  reform  and  evolution. 

Devil-  Stories . 

The  literature  of  devil-stories  is  very  extensive.  We 
select  from  them  a  number  of  the  most  representative 
tales. 

Several  legends  indicate  an  origin  by  hallucination : 
For  instance,  St.  Hilarion  when  hungry,  saw  a  number  of 
exquisite  dishes.  St.  Pelagia,  who  had  been  an  actress  in 
Antioch,  lived  the  life  of  a  religious  recluse  in  a  cave  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives.  Once  the  Devil  offered  her  a  num- 
ber of  rings,  bracelets,  and  precious  stones,  which  dis- 
appeared as  quickly  as  they  came.  Rufinus  of  Aquileja 
relates  the  story  of  a  monk,  a  man  of  great  abstinence, 
living  in  a  desert.  One  evening  a  beautiful  woman  ap- 
peai^ed  at  his  hermitage  asking  for  a  night's  shelter.  She 
conducts  herself  with  modesty  at  first,  but  soon  begins  to 
smile,  to  stroke  his  beard,  and  to  caress  him.  The  monk 
grows  excited  and  embraces  her  fervently,  when,  lo!  the 
whole  apparition  vanishes,  leaving  him  lonely  in  his  cell. 
He  hears  the  laughter  of  devils  in  the  air,  and,  despair- 
ing of  salvation,  he  goes  back  into  the  world  and  falls  an 
easy  prey  to  the  temptations  of  Satan. 

While  Christianity  was  still  under  the  influence  of 
orientalised  Gnosticism,  the  Cliurch  believed  in  the  per- 
versity of  bodily  existence,  and  therefore  clung  to  the 
notion  that  all  nature  was  the  work  of  the  Devil.     Thus 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE.  409 

the  monk  retired  from  the  world,  but  he  took  with  him 
into  his  solitude  the  memory-pictures  of  his  life.  Mem- 
ory-pictures are  part  of  our  soul,  and  a  man  who  sud- 
denly cuts  off  all  new  impressions  so  that  his  present  life 
becomes  a  blank,  will  have  hallucinations  as  naturally  as 
a  man  who  falls  asleep  will  have  dreams.  The  darkness 
of  the  present  throws  into  strong  relief  the  most  vivid 
recollections  of  the  past ;  the  emptiness  of  a  solitary 
mode  of  existence  causes  the  slumbering  memory-images 
to  appear  almost  in  bodily  reality. 

A  verj'  interesting  letter  of  vSt.  Jerome  to  the  virgin 
Eustochia,  which  exemplifies  the  truth  of  this  explana- 
tion, is  still  extant.     St.  Jerome  writes: 

"Alas!  how  often,  when  living  in  the  desert,  in  that  dreary, 
sunburnt  loneliness,  which  serves  as  an  habitation  to  the  monks, 
did  I  believe  myself  revelling  in  the  pleasures  of  Rome.  I  sat 
lonel)',  my  soul  filled  with  affliction,  clothed  in  wretched  rags,  my 
skin  sunburnt  like  an  Ethiopian's.  No  day  passed  without  tears  and 
sighs,  and  when  sleep  overcame  me  I  had  to  lie  on  the  naked 
ground.  I  do  not  mention  eating  and  drinking,  for  the  monks 
drink,  even  if  sick,  only  water,  and  regard  cooking  as  a  luxury. 
And  if  I,  who  had  condemned  myself  from  fear  of  hell  to  such  a 
life,  without  any  other  society  than  scorpions  and  wild  beasts, 
often  imagined  myself  surrounded  by  dancing  girls,  my  face  was 
pale  from  fasting,  but  in  the  cold  body  the  soul  was  burning  with 
desires,  and  in  a  man  whose  flesh  was  dead  the  flames  of  lust  were 
kindled.  Then  I  threw  myself  helpless  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  wetted 
them  with  tears,  dried  them  again  with  my  hair,  and  subdued  the 
rebellious  flesh  by  fasts  of  a  whole  week.  I  am  not  ashamed  to 
confess  my  misery;  I  am  rather  sorry  for  no  longer  being  such  as 
I  was.  I  remember  still  how  often,  when  fasting  and  weeping,  the 
night  followed  the  day,  and  how  I  did  not  cease  to  beat  my  breast 
until  at  the  command  of  God  peace  had  returned." 


410  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

The  legend  of  Merlin,  as  told  by  Bela  in  tlie  old 
chronicles,  characterises  a  whole  class  of  stories. 

The  defeated  Satan  proposes  to  regain  his  power 
by  the  same  means  by  which  God  has  vanquished  him. 
He  decides  to  have  a  son  who  shall  undo  Christ's  work 
of  redemption.  All  the  intrigues  of  hell  are  used  to  ruin 
a  noble  family  until  only  two  daughters  are  left.  The 
one  falls  into  shame,  while  the  other  remains  chaste  and 
resists  all  temptations.  One  night,  however,  she  forgot 
to  cross  herself,  and  thus  the  Devil  could  approach  her, 
— even  against  her  will.  The  pious  girl  underwent  the 
severest  penance,  and  when  her  time  came  she  had  a  son 
whose  hairy  appearance  betrayed  his  diabolical  parent- 
age. The  child,  however,  was  baptised  and  received  the 
name  Merlin.  The  excitement  in  heaven  was  great. 
What  a  triumph  would  it  be  to  win  the  Devil's  own  son 
over  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  Devil  gave  to  his  son 
all  the  knowledge  of  the  past  and  the  present ;  God  added 
the  knowledge  of  the  future,  and  this  proved  the  best 
weapon  against  the  evil  attempts  of  his  wicked  father. 
When  Merlin  grew  up,  he  slighted  his  father  and  per- 
formed many  marvellous  things.  He  was  full  of  wisdom, 
and  his  prophecies  were  reliable.  It  is  generally  as- 
sumed that  after  his  death  he  did  not  descend  into  hell 
but  went  to  heaven. 

Similar  is  the  story  of  Robert  the  Devil,  the  hero 
of  a  modern  opera.  The  Duchess  of  Normandy,  the  old 
legend  tells  us,  had  no  children.  Having  implored  the 
help  of  God  in  vain,  she  addressed  herself  to  the  Devil 
who  satisfied  her  wish  at  once.  She  had  a  son  who  was 
a   rogue    from    babyhood.      Reing   very    courageous    and 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE.  411 

strong,  he  became  the  chief  of  a  baud  of  robbers.  He 
was  knighted,  to  temper  his  malignity,  but  this  appeal  to 
his  feeling  of  honor  failed  to  have  any  effect.  In  a  tourna- 
ment he  slew  thirty  knights ;  then  he  went  out  into  the 
world  to  seek  adventures.  On  his  return  he  became  a 
robber  again.  One  day,  when  he  had  just  strangled  all 
the  nuns  of  a  cloi.ster,  he  remembered  that  he  had  a 
mother  and  decided  to  visit  her.  But  when  he  made  his 
appearance,  her  servants  dispersed  in  wild  fear.  For  the 
first  time  in  his  life  he  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
he  had  become  odious  to  his  fellow-men,  and  becoming 
conscious  of  his  evil  nature,  he  wanted  to  know  why  he 
was  worse  than  others.  With  his  swoi'd  drawn,  he  forced 
his  mother  to  confess  the  secret  of  his  birth.  He  was 
horror-struck,  but  did  not  despair.  He  went  to  Rome, 
confessed  to  a  pious  hermit,  submitted  willingly  to  the 
severest  penance  and  combated  the  Saracens  who  hap- 
pened to  be  laying  siege  to  Rome.  The  emperor  offered 
him  his  daughter  as  a  reward.  And  now  the  two  records 
of  Robert's  fate  become  contradictory.  Not  knowing 
the  truth,  we  state  both  impartially.  Some  saj'  that 
Robert  married  the  emperor's  daughter  who  was  in  love 
with  him ;  others  declare  that  he  refused  the  match  and 
crown,  and  returned  to  his  hermit  confessor,  into  the 
wilderness  where  he  died  blessed  by  God  and  mankind. 

Not  all  the  sons  of  the  Devil,  however,  join  the  cause 
of  the  good  Lord.  Eggelino,  the  t3?rant  of  Padua,  forces 
his  mother  to  confess  the  secret,  that  he  and  his  brother 
Alberico  were  sons  of  Satan.  Eggelino  boasts  that  he 
will  live  as  befits  the  son  of  the  Evil  One.  He  succeeds 
with  the  assistance  of  his  brother  in  becoming  the  t3'rant 


412 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


of  Padua,  commits  terrible  crimes  and  dies  at  last  in 
misery  and  despair.  The  story  is  dramatised  by  Alber- 
tino  Mussato  in  liis  Ecccrins. 

On  the  right  side  of  the  high  altar  of  the  church  of 
St.  Denys,  near  Paris,  a  bas-relief  illustrates  the  legend 
of  St.  Dagobert's  death,  which  proves  the  soul-saving 
power  of  Christian  saints.  We  are  told  that  "  a  hermit 
on  an  island  in  the  Mediterranean  was  warned  in  a  vision 
to  pray  for  the  Prankish  King's  soul.  He  then  saw 
Dagobert  in  chains,  hurried  along  by  a  troop  of  fiends. 


Demons  on  the  Tomb  of  Dagobert. 
(On  the  right  of  the  high  altar  in  the  church  of  St.  Denys,  near  Paris.) 

who  were  about  to  cast  him  into  a  volcano.  At  last  his 
cries  to  St.  Den3's,  St.  Michael,  and  St.  Martin,  brought 
to  his  assistance  those  three  venerable  and  glorious  per- 
sons, who  drove  off  the  devils,  and  with  songs  of  triumph 
conveyed  the  rescued  soul  to  Abraham's  bosom."  "^ 

Among  the  romances  which  represent  the  struggle 
of  man  with  temptation  and  the  powers  of  evil  Spenser's 
Faerie  Queene  and  Bunyan's  Pilffri}>i''s  Progress  are  well 

*  Gcsla   Dairob,   (cc.  23,  44).      Baronius  (647.  5)       D.  ]?ouqnet     A'cc.  dts   /lis- 
toircx  de  France,  t.  ii.  p.  593.      Didron,   C/irisfiaii  /io>ioi;ra/'/iy,  ii.  p.  132. 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE. 


413 


known  and  need  no  further  comment.  Tlie  underlying 
idea,  however,  is  not  original  with  these  authors  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  but  dates  back  to  the 
fourteenth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  A  manuscript-copy 
of  Le  Roinant  dcs  Irois  Pclerinages  hy  Guillaume  de  Guil- 
lauille  describes  the  adventures  of  man  in  his  pilgrimage 
through  life.  In  a  deep  val- 
ley the  pilgrim  meets  cov- 
etousness,  which  Didron* 
describes  as  follows : 

"The  idol  worn  upon  her 
head  is  'the  peny  of  gold  or  of 
silver  whereon  is  emprinted  the 
figure  of  the  hye  Lord  of  tlie 
countree.'  The  false  God  that 
blindeth  him  that  tiirneth  his 
eyes  towards  him  and  maketh 
fools  to  bend  their  eyes  down- 
wards. This  God  by  whom  she 
hath  been  disfigured  and  de- 
famed is  Avarice.  The  hands 
behind  like  griffin's  claws  are  to 
symbolise  'Rapine,  Coutteburse, 
and  Latrosynie. ' 

"In  the  next  pair  of  hands  she  holds  a  bowl  for  alms,  or  for 
the  money  she  extorts  through  beggary,  and  a  hook,  with  which 
she  enters  the  house  of  Christ  and  seizes  his  servants.  Taking 
their  croziers  and  shepherds'  crooks,  she  furnishes  them  with  this 
devil's  prong  instead,  fished  up  by  her  out  of  the  darkness  of  Hell, 
and  this  hand  is  named  Simony.  In  the  next  hands  she  holds  a 
yard-measure,  purse,  and  scales.  With  the  measure  she  deals  out 
false  lengths,  with  the  balances  she  weighs  false  measure,  and  into 

*A   manuscript  copy  of  an  old   English   translation  exists  in  the   University 
Library  o£  Cambridge,  England. 


COVETOUSNESS. 

(From   the   manuscript-copy  in  the  Li- 
brary of  St.  Genevieve,  Paris.) 


414 


THE  HISTORY  OF. THE  DEVIL. 


the  purse  she  puts  the  ill-won  gains  of  her  treachery,  gambling, 
and  dishonesty.  Round  her  neck  hangs  a  bag,  and  nothing  that  is 
put  therein  can  ever  come  out  again ;  all  things  remain  there  to 
rot." 

Devil-  Co)//rac/s. 
The  Devil,  fighting  with  God  for  the  possession  of 
mankind,   was   supposed   to  have  a  special   passion  for 


Faust  Signing  the  Contract  with  thk  Devil  in  Blood. 
(By  Franz  Simm  ) 

catching  souls.  Being  the  prince  of  the  world  he  could 
easily  grant  even  the  most  extravagant  wishes,  and  was 
sometimes  willing  to  pay  a  high  price  when  a  man  prom- 
ised to  be  his  for  time  and  eternity.  Thus  originated  the 
idea  of  making  compacts  with  the  Devil ;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  in  these  compacts  the  Devil   is  vcr}^  careful 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE.  415 

to  establish  his  title  to  the  soul  oi  man  by  a  faultless 
legal  document.  He  has,  as  we  shall  learn,  sufficient 
reason  to  distrust  all  promises  made  him  by  men  and 
saints.  Folio-wing  the  authority  of  the  old  legends,  we 
find  that  even  the  good  Lord  frequently  lends  his  assist- 
ance to  cheating  the  Devil  out  of  his  own.  He  is  always 
duped  and  the  vilest  tricks  are  I'esorted  to  to  cheat  him. 
While  thus  the  Devil,  having  profited  by  experience, 
always  insists  upon  having  his  rights  insured  by  an  un- 
equivocal instrument  (which  in  later  centuries  is  signed 
with  blood)  ;  he,  in  his  turn,  is  fearlessly  trusted  to  keep 
his  promise,  and  this  is  a  fact  which  must  be  mentioned 
to  his  honor,  for  although  he  is  said  to  be  a  liar  from  the 
beginning,  not  one  case  is  known  in  all  devil-lore  in 
which  the  Devil  attempts  to  cheat  his  stipulators.  Thus 
he  appears  as  the  most  unfaiidy  maligned  person,  and  as 
a  martyr  of  simple-minded  honesty. 

The  oldest  story  of  a  devil-contract  is  the  legend  of 
Theophilus,  first  told  by  Eutychian,  who  declares  he  had 
witnessed  the  whole  affair  with  his  own  e3'es. 

Theophilus,  an  officer  of  the  church  and  a  pious 
man,  living  in  Adana,  a  town  of  Cilicia,  was  unani- 
mously elected  by  the  clergy  and  by  the  laymen  as  their 
bishop,  but  he  refused  the  honor  from  sheer  modesty. 
So  another  man  became  bishop  in  his  stead.  The  new- 
bishop  unjustly  deprived  Theophilus  of  his  office,  who 
now  regretted  his  former  humility.  But  in  his  humilia- 
tion Theophilus  went  to  a  famous  wizard  and  made  with 
his  assistance  a  compact  with  Satan,  renouncing  Christ 
and  the  Holy  Virgin.  Satan  at  once  causes  the  bishop 
to  restore  Theophilus  to  his  position,  but  now  Theoph- 


416 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


o^j^jT- 


The  IjF.gknd  of  Theohhii.us. 

From  Monk  Conrad's  illumined  MS.     (Thirteenth  Century  ;   Monastery  Scheiern 

Now  in  the  Royal  Library  of  Munich  ) 


IN  VRRSE  AND  FABLE.  417 

ilus  repents  and  prays  to  the  Holy  Virgin  for  forgive- 
ness. After  forty  days  of  fasting  and  praying  he  is  re- 
buked for  his  crime  but  not  comforted ;  so  he  fasts  and 
prays  thirty  days  more,  and  receives  at  last  absolution. 
Satan,  however,  refuses  to  give  up  his  claim  on  Theoph- 
ilus,  and  the  Holy  Virgin  then  actually  castigates  the 
enemy  of  God  and  men  so  severely  that  he  at  last  sur- 
renders the  fatal  document.  Now  Theophilus  relates  the 
whole  stor}'  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop  to  the  assem- 
bled congregation  in  church ;  and  after  having  divided 
all  his  possessions  among  the  poor  dies  peacefully  and 
enters  into  the  glories  of  Paradise. 

Even  popes  are  said  to  have  made  compacts  with 
the  Devil.  An  English  Benedictine  monk,  William  of 
Malmesbury,  says  of  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  who  was  born 
in  France,  his  secular  name  being  Gerbert,  that  he  en- 
tered the  cloister  when  still  a  boy.  Full  of  ambition,  he 
flew  to  Spain  where  he  studied  astrology  and  magic 
among  the  Saracens.  There  he  stole  a  magic -book  from 
a  Saracen  philosopher,  and  returned  flying  through  the 
air  to  France.  Now  he  opened  a  school  and  acquired 
great  fame,  so  that  the  king  himself  became  one  of  his 
disciples.  Then  he  became  Bishop  of  Rheims,  where  he 
had  a  magnificent  clock  and  an  organ  constructed.  Hav- 
ing raised  the  treasure  of  Emperor  Octavian  which  lay 
hidden  in  a  subterranean  vault  at  Rome,  he  became  Pope. 
As  Pope  he  manufactured  a  magic  head  which  replied  to 
all  his  questions.  This  head  told  him  that  he  would  not 
die  until  he  had  read  Mass  in  Jerusalem.  So  the  Pope 
decided  never  to  visit  the  Holy  Land.  But  once  he  fell 
sick,  and,  asking  his  magic  head,  was  informed  that  the 


418  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

church's  name  in  which  he  had  read  Mass  the  other  day- 
was  "The  Holy  Cross  ol  Jerusalem."  The  Pope  knew 
at  once  that  he  had  to  die.  He  gathered  all  the  cardinals 
around  his  hed,  confessed  his  crime,  and,  as  a  penance, 
ordered  his  body  to  be  cut  up  alive  and  the  pieces  to  be 
thrown  out  of  the  church  as  unclean. 

Sigabert  tells  the  story  of  the  Pope's  death  in  a 
different  way.  There  is  no  penance  on  the  part  of  the 
Pope,  and  the  Devil  takes  his  soul  to  hell.  Others  tell 
us  that  the  Devil  constantly  accompanied  the  Pope  in  the 
shape  of  a  black  dog,  and  this  dog  gave  him  the  equiv- 
ocal prophecy. 

The  historical  truth  of  the  story  is  that  Gerbert  was 
tini:sually  gifted  and  well  educated.  He  was  familiar 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  Saracens,  for  Borrell,  Duke  of 
Hither  Spain,  carried  him  as  a  youth  to  his  country  where 
he  studied  mathematics  and  astronomy.  He  came  early 
in  contact  with  the  most  influential  men  of  his  time,  and 
became  Pope  in  999.  He  was  liberal  enough  to  denounce 
some  of  his  unworthy  predecessors  as  "monsters  of  more 
than  human  iniquit^^"  and  as  "Antichrist,  sitting  in  the 
temple  of  God  and  playing  the  part  of  God;"  but  at 
the  same  time  he  pursued  an  independent  and  vigorous 
papal  policy,  foreshadowing  in  his  aims  both  the  preten- 
sions of  Gregory  the  Great  and  the  Crusades. 

The  most  famous,  most  significant,  and  the  pro- 
foundest  story  among  the  legends  of  devil-contracts  is 
the  saga  of  Dr.  Jolianucs  Faustus.  Whether  the  hero 
of  the  Faust  legend  derives  his  name  from  the  Latin 
faustuSi  i.  e.,  the  favored  one,  or  from  the  well-known 
Maj'ence  goldsmith   Fust,  the  companion  of  Gensflcisch 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE. 


419 


voni  Gutenberg,  the  inventor  of  printing,  or  whether  he 
was  no  historical  personality  at  all,  is  an  open  question. 
Certain  it  is  that  all  the  stories  of  the  great  naturalists 
and  thinkers  whom  the  people  at  the  time  regarded  as 
wizards  were  by  and  b3'  attributed  to  him,  and  the  figure 
of  Dr.  Faustus  became  the  centre  of  an  extensive  circle  of 
traditions.     The  tales  about  Albertus  Magnus,  Johannes 


Mephistopheles  Making  His  Appear- 
ance IN  Faust's  Study. 

(After  Schnorr  von  Carolsteld.) 


Faust  Beholding  the  Emblem  of 
THE  Macrocosm. 

(After  P.  Rembrandt.) 


Teutonicus  (Deutscli) ,  Trithemius,  Abbot  of  Sjxmheim, 
Agrippa  of  Nettesheim,  Theophrastus,  and  Paracelsus, 
were  retold  of  Faust,  and  Faust  became  a  poetical  per- 
sonification of  the  great  revolutionary  aspirations  in  the 
time  immediately  preceding  and  following  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

The  original  form  of  the  Faust-legend  represents  the 
Roman  Catholic  standpoint.     Faust   allies  himself  with 


420 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  Devil,  works  his  miracles  In-  the  black  art,  and  pays 
for  its  practice  with  his  soul.  He  begins  his  career  in 
Wittenberg,  the  university  at  which  Luther  taught,  and 


JocliU'  3iiu(Vu»yi  JitfifrjJi-uK^iifriiuiiijSafSiitUMlciu.pirfdiioxiiJ.SoMiPsburliftnffitlihliif-Siinji 
^uii'2int'rbafti!5MrIli'ri(friUfnift.^l^eli-he3grt«'l)eutiifl^riuttfr^uui>.=^i(ji^df^'5ritfct^JLol)rtrli!(»faiigfufl^ 

Faust  Riding  on  a  Barrel  Out  of  Auerbach's  Cellar.     Fresco. 


but- 
05-5 


The  Sknse-Ii.lusions  of  the  Riotous  Students  and  Faust's  Escape. 
(.\fter  P.  Cornelius.) 

is  the  enibodinieut  of  natural  science,  of  historical  inves- 
tigation, of  the  Renaissance,  and  of  modern  discoveries 
and  inventions.      As  such  he  subdues  nature,  restores  to 


IN  VERSE  AXD  FABLE. 


421 


life  the  heroes  of  ancient  Greece,  gathers  knowledge 
about  distant  lands,  and  revives  Helen,  the  ideal  of 
classic  beauty. 


1513 


^a  %i^  ^%M  ^\ 


VIVE.BIBE.OnORA!,OARE  .     MEMOR  TAVSTI    irvIV.S  .  ETH  T  I  VS  „ 
TOITN^  ;AnERAT  CLATDOll  A^.C  ASTER  AT  AMPLA.OKAUV   1525. 

Faust  Enjoying  Himself  In  Auerbach's  Cellar.     Fresco. 


^  '     Vv  / 


\^*')''r 


■-■iiin^ 


^->^^ 


Mephistopheles  Having  Faust  Buried  by  Devils.      (After  Retzsch.) 

As  the  fall  of  the  Devil  is,  according  to  Biblical 
authority,  attributed  to  pride  and  ambition,  so  progress 
and  the  spirit  of  investigation  were  denounced  as  Satan's 


422  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

work,  and  all  inquiry  into  the  mysteries  of  nature  was 
regarded  as  magic.  Think  only  of  Roger  Bacon,  that 
studious,  noble  monk,  and  a  greater  scientist  than  his 
more  famous  namesake,  Lord  Bacon !  In  the  thirties  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  at  the  University  of  Paris,  when 
Roger  Bacon,  making  some  experiments  with  light,  made 
the  rainbow-colors  appear  on  a  screen,  the  audience  ran 
away  from  him  terrified,  and  his  life  was  endangered  be- 
cause he  was  suspected  of  practising  the  black  art. 

The  Faust  Legettd. 

Faust  is  the  representative  of  scientific  manliness. 
He  investigates,  even  though  it  may  cost  him  the  Chris- 
tian's title  to  heavenly  bliss ;  he  boldly  studies  nature, 
although  he  will  be  damned  for  it  in  hell ;  he  seeks  the 
truth  at  the  risk  of  forfeiting  his  soul,  x^ccording  to  the 
mediaeval  theology  Satan  fell  simply  on  account  of  his 
manly  ambition  and  high  aspiration,  and  3'et  Faust  dares 
to  break  and  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge.  According  to  Marlowe's  Faustus,  Lucifer 
fell,  not  only  by  insolence,  but  first  of  all  "  bj^  aspiring 
pride."  Mephistopheles  seems  to  regret,  but  Faustus 
comforts  him ,  saying  : 

"What  is  great  Mephistopheles  so  passionate, 
For  being  deprived  of  the  joys  of  heaven? 
Learn  thou  of  Faustus  manly  fortitude, 
And  scorn  those  joys  thou  never  shalt  possess." 

The  oldest  Faust  book,  dated  1587  (called  the  I'^olks- 
buch)  exists  in  one  single  copy  only  whicli  is  now  care- 
fully preserved  in  Ulm,  and  Scheible  has   re-])ul)Hslied  it 


IN  Vl'iRSE  AND  FAliLE.  423 

in  his  work  Dr.  Joluuines  Faust  (3  Volumes,  Stuttgart, 
1846) . 

The  preface  of  the  Volksbuch  states  that  the  inib- 
lisher  had  received  the  manuscript  from  a  good  friend  in 
Speyer,  and  that  the  original  story  had  been  written  in 
Latin.  The  contents  of  this  oldest  version  of  the  Faust 
legend  are  as  follows  : 

Faust,  the  son  of  a  farmer  in  Rod,  near  Weimar, 
studied  theology  at  Wittenberg.  Ambitious  to  be  om- 
niscient and  omnipotent  like  God,  he  dived  into  the 
secret  lore  of  magic,  but  unable  to  make  much  progress, 
he  conjured  the  Devil  in  a  thick  forest  near  Wittenberg. 
Not  in  the  least  intimidated  by  the  Devil's  noisy  be- 
havior, he  forced  him  to  become  his  servant.  Faust, 
having  gained  mastery  over  demons,  did  not  regard  his 
salvation  endangered,  and  when  the  Devil  told  him  that 
he  should  nevertheless  receive  his  full  punishment  after 
death,  he  grew  extremely  angry  with  him  and  bade  him 
quit  his  presence,  saying:  "  For  3'our  sake  I  do  not  want 
to  be  damned."  When  the  Devil  had  left,  Faust  felt  an 
uneasiness  not  experienced  befoi-e,  for  he  had  become 
accustomed  to  his  services.  Accordingly,  he  ordered  the 
Devil  to  return,  who  now  introduced  himself  as  Mephis- 
topheles.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  Greek  ///;  ro 
q>a)i  q)i\rjs,  "  not-the-light-loviug,"  and  was  afterwards 
changed  to  Mephistopheles.  He  now  made  a  compact 
with  the  Devil  who  consented  to  serve  him  for  twenty- 
four  years,  Faust  to  allow  him  afterwards  to  deal  with 
him  as  he  pleased.  The  contract  was  signed  by  Faust 
with  his  blood,  which  he  drew  with  a  penknife  from  his 
left  arm.     The  blood,  running  out  of  the  wound,  formed 


424  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

the  words  :  Hodw  fitge  {wl3j.\^  ^y\) .  This  startles  Faust, 
but  he  remains  resolute. 

Mephistopheles  entertained  his  master  with  all  kinds 
of  merry  illusions,  with  music  and  visions.  He  brought 
him  dainty  dishes  and  costly  clothes  stolen  from  royal 
households.  Faust  became  luxurious  and  desired  to 
marry.  The  Devil  refused,  because  marriage  is  a  sacra- 
ment. Faust  insisted.  Then  the  Devil  appeared  in  his 
real  shape  which  was  so  terrific  that  Faust  was  fright- 
ened. He  gave  up  the  idea  of  marriage,  but  Mephistoph- 
eles sent  him  devils  who  assumed  the  shape  of  beautiful 
women,  and  made  him  dissolute. 

Faust  conversed  with  his  servant  about  eschatolo- 
gical  subjects,  and  heard  man}'  things  which  greatly  dis- 
pleased his  vanity.  Mephistopheles  said,  "  I  am  a  devil 
and  act  according  to  my  nature.  But  if  I  were  a  man,  I 
would  rather  humiliate  myself  before  God  than  before 
Satan." 

Faust  became  sick  of  his  empty  pleasures.  His  am- 
bition was  to  be  recognised  in  the  world  as  a  man  who 
could  explain  nature,  presage  future  events,  and  so  excite 
admiration.  Having  received  sufficient  information  con- 
cerning the  other  world,  he  wanted  to  come  into  direct 
contact  with  it,  and  Mephistopheles  introduced  to  him  a 
number  of  distinguished  devils.  When  the  visitors  left, 
the  house  was  so  full  of  vermin  that  Faust  had  to  with- 
draw. However,  he  did  not  neglect  his  new  acquaint- 
ances on  that  account,  but  paid  them  a  visit  in  their  own 
home.  Riding  ui)on  a  chair  built  of  human  bones,  he 
visited  hell  and  contemplated  with  leisure  the  flames  of 
its  furnaces  and  the  torments  of  the  damned. 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE.  425 

Having  safely  returned  from  the  infernal  region,  he 
was  carried  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  dragons  up  to  heaven. 
He  took  a  ride  high  in  the  air,  first  eastwards  over  the 
whole  of  Asia,  then  upwards  to  the  stars,  until  they  grew 
before  his  eyes  on  his  approach  into  big  worlds,  while  the 
earth  became  as  small  as  the  yolk  of  an  egg. 

His  curiosity  being  satisfied  in  that  direction,  he 
concentrated  his  attention  upon  the  earth.  Mephistoph- 
eles  assumed  the  shape  of  a  winged  horse  upon  which  he 
visited  all  the  countries  of  our  planet.  He  visited  Rome 
and  regretted  not  having  become  Pope,  seeing  the  lux- 
uries of  the  latter's  life.  He  sat  down  invisible  at  the 
Pope's  table  and  took  away  his  daintiest  morsels,  and  the 
wine  from  his  very  lips.  The  Pope,  believing  himself 
beset  by  a  ghost,  exorcised  its  poor  soul,  but  Faust 
laughed  at  him.  In  Turkey  he  visited  the  Sultan's 
harem,  and  introduced  himself  as  the  prophet  Moham- 
med, which  gave  him  full  liberty  to  act  as  he  pleased. 
Beyond  India  he  saw  at  a  distance  the  blest  gardens  of 
Paradise. 

Faust,  being  invited  in  his  capacity  of  magician  to 
visit  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  made  Alexander  the 
Great,  the  beautiful  Helen,  and  other  noted  persons  of 
antiquity  appear  before  the  whole  court.  Faust  fell  in 
love  with  Helen,  so  that  he  could  no  longer  live  without 
her.  He  kept  her  in  his  company  and  had  a  child  by 
her,  a  marvellous  boy  who  could  reveal  the  future. 

When  the  twenty-four  ^ears  had  almost  elapsed, 
Faust  grew  melancholy,  but  the  Devil  mocked  him.  At 
midnight,  on  the  very  last  day,  some  students  who  had 
been  in  his  company  heard  a  frightful  noise,  but  did  not 


STUDYING  BLACK  MAGIC. 


CONJURING  THE  DEVIL. 


WM^". 


SOME  PLEASANTRTFS  OF  BLACK  MAGIC. 


MIRACLES  AND  CONJURATIONS. 


Widman's  Faust.     (Reduced  from  Scheible's  Reproductions) 


IN  vp:rse  and  fable. 


427 


dare  to  enter  his  room.  The  next  morning  they  found 
him  torn  to  pieces.  Helen  and  her  child  had  disappeared, 
and  his  famulus  Wagner  inherited  his  books  on  magic 
art. 

This    briefly   is   the    contents   of    the    Volkslmch    on 
Faust. 


,j»j")i»' 


Last  Hours  and  Death,      (Widman's  Faust  )* 

A  transcription  of  the  Faust-legend  in  rhymes  was 
published  as  early  as  1587  in  Tubingen.  Another  version 
by  Widman  appeared  in  Hamburg  in  1599.  It  is  less 
complete  than  the  first  Faust-book  and  lacks  depth  of 
conception  while  it  abounds  rather  more  in  coarse  inci- 


*Most  of  these  illustrations  need  no  further  comments.  The  last  three  repre- 
sent the  storm  that  was  raging  during  Faust's  funeral,  the  inheritance  of  Wagner, 
consisting  of  Faust's  books  and  instruments,  and  also  Helen  and  her  son.  The  last 
picture  shows  Faust's  ghost  haunting  his  old  residence  at  Wittenberg. 


WAGNER  CONJURING  THE  DEVIL  AUERHAN. 


AUERHAN   S  SERVICES. 


WAGNF.K  S  JOKES. 


I. AST  H(")II(S  ANH  DEATH. 


Christoph  Wagner.     (From  an  old  popular  edition,  illustrated  by  j.  Nisle.) 


IN  VERSE  AXI^  FABLE. 


429 


dents.  Widmaiin's  edition  l)ccame  the  basis  of  several 
further  renderings,  one  in  1674  by  Pfitzer  in  Nuremberg, 
another  in  1728  in  Frankfort  and  Leipsic.  Faust  must 
have  appeared  on  the  stage  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
for  the  clergy  of  Berlin  filed  a  complaint  that  Faust  pub- 
licly abjured  God  on  the  stage.  The  puppet-play  Faust 
was  compiled  for  the  amusement  of  peasants  and  chil- 
dren, in  fairs  and  market  places.  Yet  it  was  powerful 
enough  to  inspire  Goethe  who  saw  it  still  performed  when 


i-  i-^-idi 


The  Devi  I,  in  the  Puppet  Play. 


a  boy,  to  write  the  great  drama  which  became  the  most 
famous  work  of  his  life. 

The  Faust-legend  found  a  continuation  in  the  story 
of  Christoph  Wagner,  Faust's  famulus  and  companion. 
The  Wagner-storj',  however,  contains  nothing  new  and 
is  nothing  but  a  bare  repetition  of  Faust's  adventures 
and  sorry  end. 

English  editions  appeared  very  earl}-,  and  Marlowe, 
the  greatest  pre-Shakespearian  dramatist,  used  the  Faust- 
story  for  one  of  his  dramas,  which  is  still  extant. 


430  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Goethe^s  Faust. 

Goethe's  conception  of  Faust  represents  the  Protes- 
tant standpoint.  Faust  allies  himself  with  the  spirit  of 
negation  and  promises  to  pay  the  price  of  his  soul  on 
condition  that  he  shall  find  satisfaction ;  but  Faust  finds 
no  satisfaction  in  the  gifts  of  the  spirit  that  denies.  How- 
ever, he  does  find  satisfaction,  after  having  abandoned  the 
chase  for  empty  pleasures,  in  active  and  successful  work 
for  the  good  of  mankind.  Goethe's  Faust  uses  the  Devil 
but  rises  above  his  negativism.  However,  he  inherits 
from  the  revolutionary  movement  of  the  age  that  gave 
birth  to  the  legend,  the  love  of  liberty.     Says  the  dying 

Faust : 

"And  such  a  throng  I  fain  would  see, — 
Stand  on  free  soil  among  a  people  free." 

This  Faust  cannot  be  lost.  His  soul  is  saved.  Mephis- 
topheles  now  ceases  to  be  a  mere  incarnation  of  badness ; 
his  negation  becomes  the  spirit  of  critique.  The  spirit  of 
critique,  although  destructive,  leads  to  the  positive  work 
of  construction  ;  and  thus  Faust  becomes  a  representative 
of  the  bold  spirit  of  investigation  and  progress  which 
characterises  the  present  age. 

The  Devil  of  the  ]'oiksbnch  is  real ;  actors  and  spec- 
tators believe  in  his  power  and  are  afraid  to  fall  into  his 
clutches.  In  Goethe's  Faust  the  mythology  of  the  story 
is  felt  to  be  mere  allegory  and  has  become  part  of  the 
dramatic  machinery.  This  is  plainly  seen  in  the  Wal- 
purgis  niglit  scene  which  has  become  a  satirical  inter- 
mezzo of  Goethe's  time. 


IN  VERSE  AND  EA15LK. 


431 


Witches  Celebrating  Walpurgis  Night. 
(By  Franz  Simm.) 


432 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


^UU  fatal. 


Humorists. 

The  figure  of  the  Evil  One  began  slowly  to  lose  the 
awe  which  it  exercised  during  the  Middle  Ages  upon  the 
imagination  of  the  people,  and  Hans  Sachs  treats  the 
Devil  in  his  poems  as  a  being  of  whom  no  courageous 
man  need   be  afraid.     Thus  the  German  halberdier,  he 

says,  laughs  at  him,  for 
Old  Nick  would  not  dare 
to  admit  a  Landshieclit  of 
their  rank  into  his  kingdom. 
The  first  man,  however, 
who  (so  far  as  I  am  aware) 
was  wise  enough  to  take, 
as  a  matter  of  principle,  a 
humorous  view  of  the  Devil 
and  hell  was  Dionysius 
Klein.  In  his  Tragico- 
Conia'dia.,  published  in  the 
year  1622,  he  describes  his 
trip  both  to  heaven  and  to 
the  infernal  region,  which 
latter  place  is  reported  to 
be  well  equipped  with  water-power  and  good  machinery, 
as  these  were  used  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

In  modern  times  the  humorous  character  of  Satan 

devclo])s  in  the  degree  that  he  is  no  longer  regarded  as 

an  individual  being  but  changes  to  the  principle  of  evil. 

In  the  British  Islands  where  the  majorit}'  of  the  pco- 


i^an0@a(^. 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE. 


433 


pie  still  believe  in  a  personal  Devil,  there  exists  an  un- 
written law  which  reads,  "Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name 
of  the  Devil  in  vain."  In  Germany  and  France,  how- 
ever, and  in  all  other  countries  of  the  European  continent, 
people  use  the  word  freely  in  a  way  that  must  shock  the 
feelings  of  a  well-bred  Englishman. 


Hell  According  to  Dionysius  Klein's  Tragico-Comcedia. 
(Reproduced  from  Bastian's  Die  Denkschopfung .) 

Victor  Hugo  uses  the  Devil  as  a  setting  for  his  po- 
litical satire.  No  more  trenchant  sarcasm  in  poetic  form 
can  be  imagined  than  his  lines  on  Napoleon  III.  and 
Pope  Pius  IX.     He  says: 

"  One  day  the  Lord  was  playing 
For  human  souls  (they're  saying) 
With  Satan's  Majesty. 
And  each  one  showed  his  art : 
The  one  played  Bonaparte, 
The  other  Mastai. 


434  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

"An  abbot  sly  and  keen, 
A  princelet  wretched  mean, 
And  a  rascal,  upon  oath. 
God  Father  played  so  poorly, 
He  lost  the  game,  and  surely 
The  Devil  won  them  both. 

"  'Well,  take  them  ! '  cried  God  Father, 
'You'll  find  them  useless  rather!' 
The  Devil  laughed  and  swore : 
'They'll  serve  my  cause,  I  hope. 
The  one  I'll  make  a  pope. 
The  other  emperor  !  ""'' 

["Un  jour  Dieu  sur  la  table 
Jouait  avec  le  diable 
Du  genre  humain  ha'i ; 
Chacun  tenait  sa  carte, 
L'un  jouait  Bonaparte 
Et  I'autre  MastaV. 

*'Un  pauvre  abb6  bien  mince, 
Un  m^chant  petit  prince, 
Polisson  hasardeux  ! 
Quel  enjeu  pitoyable  ! 
Dieu  fit  tant  que  le  diable 
Les  gagna  tons  les  deux. 

"  'Prends  !  cria  Dieu  le  pere, 
Tu  ne  sauras  qu'en  faire  !' 
Le  diable  dit  :    'erreur  ! 
Et,  ricanant  sous  cape, 
II  fit  de  l'un  un  pape, 
De  I'autre  un  empercur. '"] 

The  Devil  in  the  literature  of  to-day  is  of  the  same 
kind :   a  harmless  fellow  at  whose  expense  the  reader  eti- 

*  Translation  specially  made  by  E.  F.  L   Gauss. 


IN  VERSE  AND  FABLE.  435 

joys  a  hearty  laugli.  Lesagc's  novel  77/*?  Devil  on  Two 
Sticks  is  a  poor  piece  of  fiction,  and  Hauff's  Memoin,  of 
Satan  are  rather  lengthy. 

Heinrich  Heine  said  jestingly  : 

"  Don't,  my  friend,  scoff  at  the  Devil, 
For  the  path  of  life  is  short ; 
And  eternal  reprobation 
Is  not  merely  parson  sport." 

["Freund  verspotte  nicht  den  Teufel, 
Kurz  ist  ja  die  Lebensbahn  ; 
Und  die  ewige  Verdammniss 
Ist  kein  blosser  Pobelwahn."] 

In  another  poem  Heine  tells  how  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Satan  and  what  irapi^ession  he  made  on  the 
poet.  According  to  Miss  Emma  Lazarus's  translation 
Heine  says : 

"  I  called  the  Devil  and  he  came. 
His  face  with  wonder  I  must  scan  ; 
He  is  not  ugly,  he  is  not  lame. 
He  is  a  delightful,  charming  man  ; 
A  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  in  fact, 
Courteous,  engaging,  and  full  of  tact. 
A  diplomat,  too,  of  wide  research 
Who  cleverly  talks  about  State  and  Church. 
A  little  pale,  but  that  is  en  regie 
For  now  he  is  studying  Sanskrit  and  Hegel. 

"  He  said  he  was  proud  my  acquaintance  to  make 
And  should  prize  my  friendship,  and  bowed  as  he  spake. 
And  asked  if  we  had  not  met  before 
At  the  house  of  the  Spanish  ambassador. 
Then  I  noted  his  features  line  by  line, 
And  found  him  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine." 


436 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


In  modern  times  it  has  become  quite  customary  in 
French,  German,  and  American  papers  to  picture  the 
Devil  without  fear  and  in  good  humor,  and  few  are  they 
who  would  take  offence  at  the  sight. 

Hell  Up  to  Date  is  a  genuine  Chicago  production  of 
modern  style.  The  author  introduces  himself  as  a  news- 
paper reporter  who  interviews  "Sate,"  and  is  shown 
round  the  Inferno.     He  finds  that  "Hell  is  now  run  on 


Satan  stretching  forth  his  hand  from  Devil's        "  Uiie  captain  escaped,"   says  the  master  of 
Island  to  disturb  the  peace  of    France. —  Devil's  Island,  "  but  in  his  place  I've  got  a 

From  Et  Hijodd  Ahiuzote  (Mexico).  handful  of  generals."— From  Lustige  Bliil- 

tfr  (Germany). 

The  Devil  in  Modern  Satirical  Journals. 

the  broad  American  ])lan."  "Captain"  Charon,  who 
began  his  career  as  a  ferryman  with  a  little  tub  of  a 
"rowboat,"  is  now  running  big  steamers  on  the  Styx, 
"the  only  navigable  river  in  hell."  Judge  Minos  sits 
in  court,  and  an  Irish  policeman  introduces  the  poor 
wretches  one  by  one.  The  lawyers  are  condemned  to  be 
gagged,  and  their  objections  are  overruled  by  Satan;  the 
inventor  of  the  barbwire  fence  is  seated  naked  on  a  barb- 


KIH^'I 


Hell  Up  to  Date.* 

*By  permission  from  A.  Young's  //cU  Up  to  Date.     Copyright  1892  by  F.  J. 
Schulte. 


438  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

wire  fence ;  tramps  are  washed ;  policemen  are  clr.bbed 
until  they  see  stars ;  quack  doctors  are  cured  according 
to  their  own  methods;  poker  fiends,  board  of  trade  gam- 
blers, and  fish-story  tellers  are  treated  according  to  their 
deserts  ;  monopolists  are  baked  like  pop-corn,  and  clergy- 
men are  condemned  to  listen  to  their  own  sermons  which 
have  been  faithfully  recorded  in  phonographs. 

Devil-stories  are  myths  in  which  Christian  mythol- 
ogy is  carried  to  the  extreme.  Symbols  are  taken  seri- 
ously, and  from  the  literal  belief  of  the  Christian  dogma 
the  imagination  weaves  these  pictures  which  to  our  an- 
cestors were  more  than  mere  tales  that  adorn  a  moral. 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM  OF  GOOD 
AND  EVIL. 


THE  question  as  to  the  nature  of  evil  is  by  far  the 
most  important  problem  for  philosophical,  religious, 
and  moral  consideration.  The  intrinsic  presence  of  suf- 
fering is  the  most  obvious  feature  that  determines  the 
character  of  existence  throughout,  but  gives  at  the  same 
time  origin  to  the  most  important  blessings  that  make 
life  worth  living.  It  is  pain  that  sets  thoughts  to  think- 
ing ;  a  state  of  undisturbed  happiness  would  make  reflex- 
ion, inquiry,  and  invention  redundant.  It  is  death  which 
begets  the  aspiration  of  preserving  oneself  beyond  the 
grave.  Without  death  there  would  be  no  religion.  And 
it  is  sin  that  imparts  worth  to  virtue.  If  there  were  no 
going  astray,  there  would  be  no  seeking  for  the  right 
path;  there  would  be  no  merit  in  goodness.  Blame  and 
praise  would  have  no  meaning.  In  this  absence  of  want, 
imperfection,  and  all  kinds  of  ill,  there  would  be  no 
ideals,  no  progress,  no  evolution  to  higher  goals. 

The  Mylhology  of  Evil. 

Mythology  being  always  a  popular  metaphysics,  it 
is  a  matter  of  course  that  the  idea  of  evil  has  been  per- 


440 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


sonified  among  all  nations.  There  is  no  religion  in  tlie 
world  but  lias  its  demons  or  evil  monsters  who  represent 
pain,  misery ,  and  destruction.  In  Egypt 
the  powers  of  darkness  were  feared  and 
worshipped  under  various  names  as  Set 
or  Seth,  Bess,  Typhon,  etc.  Though 
the  ancient  Gods  of  Brahmanism  are 
not  fully  differentiated  into  evil  and 
good  deities,  we  have  yet  the  victory 
of  IMahamaj^a,  the  great  goddess,  over 
Mahisha,  the  king  of  the  giants. f  Buddhists  call  the 
personification  of  evil  Mara,  the  tempter,  the  father  of 


Egyptian  Devil* 
P'ostclassic  age. 


Mahamaya.  the  Slayer  of  Mahisha. 
(From  Moor's  Hindu  Paiil/iron,  Plate  xix.   Cf.  Wilson,  f/i>i<ht  .T^y//iolo^n\  p.  249  ) 

*  Egyptian  Devil,  reproduced  from  Montfaucon,  has  a  human  he.id  from  which 
project  the  heads  of  six  animals,  one  of  an  ox,  one  of  a  bird,  and  four  others,  ap- 
parently those  of  serpents. 

f  As  to  the  myth  of  the  origin  of  Mah;imaya,  who  is  identified  with  Durg.n,  see 
"the  Cbandi  "  in  the  AfiU-kaiicieyii  Purana.  Vishnu,  beholding  the  wretchedness 
of  the  gods  to  which  the  powers  of  the  victorious  giant-king  Mahisha  had  reduced 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM. 


441 


lust  and  sin,  and  the  bringer  of  death.     Chaldean  sages 
personify  the  chaos  that  was  in  the  beginning,  in  Tiamat, 


The  Christian  View  of  the  Chained  Ruler  of  Hell.      Missal  of  Poitiers* 

them,  grew  so  enraged  that  streams  of  glory  issued  from  his  countenance  taking 
shape  in  the  figure  of  IVIaham.iya.  Similar  effulgences  came  forth  from  the  other 
gods  and  entered  into  the  system  of  the  goddess  who  then  went  forth  and  slew  the 
buffalo-shaped  monster  Mahisha.  Another  account  of  the  same  myth  is  contained 
in  the  I'limaiia  Punina.  For  details  see  Hindu  mythologies  under  Mahisha  and 
Mahishamardini  (the  slayer  of  Mahisha). 

■"Didron,  Chr.  /con.,  II.,  p.  iig      (See  pp.  468  and  469  of   the  present  work.) 


442 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  monster  of  the  deep.  The  Persians  call  him  Angra 
Mainyu  or  Ahriman,  the  demon  of  darkness  and  of  mis- 
chief, the  Jews  call  him  Satan  the  fiend,  the  early  Chris- 
tians, Devil  (SidpoXo;) ,  i.  e.,  slanderer,  because,  as  in  the 


Persian  Devil.* 


Turkish  Devil. f 


* '  'A  Persian  Devil  appears  in  an  engraving  in  the  Didrou  collection  in  the  form 
of  a  man,  clothed  and  wearing  necklets,  bracelets,  and  anklets,  but  with  claws  on 
his  heels  and  toes,  and  horns  on  his  head.  He  is  named  Ahriman,  Spirit  of  Dark- 
ness, the  Iranian  enemy  of  Ormuzd,  second-born  of  the  Eternal  One,  like  Ormuzd 
an  emanation  from  the  Primal  Light  ;  equally  pure,  but  ambitious  and  full  of 
pride,  he  had  become  jealous  of  the  first-born  of  God." — Didron,  Iconography, 

IL,   p.    122. 

f  From  a  Turkish  MS.  obtained  by  Napoleon  I.  at  Cairo  and  presented  to  the 
National  Library  at  Paris  (B.C.  242).  Its  author  is  Saiaidi  Mahammed  ebu  emer 
Hassan  esseoudi  (990^"),  and  the  picture  is  described  as  follows  :  "  The  flesh  of  this 
monster  is  olive,  his  eyes  are  green  with  red  pupils,  and  his  tongue  is  also  red.  He 
wears  a  green  scarf  around  his  loins,  pale  purple  trousers  lined  with  blue,  and 
necklets  and  armlets  of  gold." — Didron,  Iconography,  II.,  122. 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM. 


443 


story  of  Job,  he  accuses  man,  and  his  accusations  are 
false.  The  old  Teutons  and  Norsemen  called  him  Loki. 
The  Middle  Ages  are  full  of  devils,  and  demonologies  of 
the  Japanese  and  Chinese  are  perhaps  more  extensive 
than  our  own. 

The  evolution  of  the  idea  of  evil  as  a  personification 
is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  chapters  in  history,  and 


te — _=■ 


W/^s 


Satan  Accusing  Job. 
Fresco  by  Francesco  da  Volterra,  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa.* 

the  changes  which  characterise  the  successive  phases  are 
instructive.  While  the  old  Pagan  views  survive  iu  both 
Hebrew  and  Christian  demonologies,  we  are  constantly 
confronted  with  accretions  and  new  interpretations.  Franz 
Xaver  Kraus,  in  his  History  of  Christiaii  Art'\  concedes 


*  From  Kugler's  Italian  Schools  of  Fainting, 
\Geschichte  dcr  christlichcn  Kunst,  Vol.  I.,  p.  210. 


444 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


that  our  present  conception  of  the  demons  of  evil  is  radi- 
cally different  from  that  of  the  early  Christians.  He 
says: 

"The  popular  conceptions  of  the  early  Christians  concerning 
devils  are  essentially  different  from  those  of  the  present  time.  The 
serpent  or  the  dragon  as  a  picture  of  the  Devil  appears  not  only  in 
the  Old  Testament  (Genesis  iii.  i),  but  also  in  Babylonian  litera- 
ture, in  the   Revelation  of  St.  John  (xii.  g),  and  in  the  Acts  of  the 


From  a  MS.  of  the  Due  d'Anjou  in  the 
National  L  ibrary  of  Paris.  Thirteenth 
century.     (Didron,  Attn.,  I.,  75.) 


From  an  Anglo-Saxon  MS,  in  the  British 
Museum,  belonging  to  the  earlier  half 
of  the  eleventh  century  (Wright's  His- 
tory of  Caricature  and  Grotesque  in  Lit- 
erature anti  Art,   p.  56), 


Satan  in  His  Ugliness. 

Martyrs.  We  read  in  the  Vision  of  Perpetua  :  '  Under  the  scales 
themselves  [i.  e.,  for  weighing  the  souls]  the  dragon  lies,  of  won- 
derful magnitude.' "  * 

The  intellectual  life  of  mankind  develops  by  gradual 
growth.  The  old  views  are,  as  a  rule,  preserved  but 
transformed.  There  is  nowhere  an  absolutely  new  start. 
Either  the  main  idea  is  preserved  and  details  are  changed, 
or  7'icc  versa,  the  main  idea  is  objected  to  while  the  de- 


*  Sub  i/fsa  S£ala  draco  ctthtttis  mirar  m(t^')iitudhiis. 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  I'R()BLP:m. 


445 


tails  remain  the  same.  Gunkel  lias  proved'''  that  the 
splendid  description  of  Leviathan  (in  Job  xli)  as  a  mon- 
ster of  the  deep  protected  by  scales  is  a  reproduction  of 
Chaldaean  mythology,  and  God's  fight  with  the  monsters 
of  the  deep  is  a  repetition  of  Bel  Merodach's  conquest  of 
Tiamat.  Changes  of  a  radical  nature  take  place  in  the 
religious  conceptions  of  mankind,  yet  the  historical  con- 
nexion is  preserved. 


The  Trinity  Fighting  Behemoth 

AND  Leviathan. 

Italian  miniature  of  the  thirteenth 

century.     (After  Didron.) 


A  Trinity  of  the  Tenth 

Century,  f 

From  Miiller  and  Mathe's  Archaeology. 


The  conception  of  evil  in  its  successive  personifica- 
tions would  be  humorous  if  most  of  its  pages  (especially 
those  on  witch -prosecution)  were  not  at  the  same  time 
very  sad.  But  for  that  reason  we  must  recognise  the 
prestige  of  the  Devil.  The  pedigree  of  the  Evil  One  is 
older    than    the   oldest    European   aristocracy   and    royal 

*  Schifpfittig  Kud  Chaos.    Gottingen,  i8gi. 

fThe  remarkable  feature  of  this  picture  consists  not  only  in  admitting  the 
Virgin  Mary  to  the  throne  of  the  Trinity  (which  is  quite  frequent  in  similar  repre- 
sentations) but  in  the  double  presence  of  Christ,  as  a  full-grown  man  and  as  an  in- 
fant. 


446  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

families ;  it  antedates  the  Bible  and  is  more  ancient  than 
the  Pyramids. 

Having  outlined  in  the  preceding  chapters  the  his- 
tory of  the  Devil,  we  shall  now  devote  the  conclusion  of 
this  book  to  a  philosophical  consideration  of  the  idea  of 
evil ;  and  here  we  are  first  of  all  confronted  with  the 
problem  of  the  objective  existence  of  evil. 

The  Era  of  Sicbjectivism. 

The  question  presents  itself :  "Is  not  evil  the  pro- 
duct of  mere  illusion?  Is  it  not  a  relative  term  which 
ought  to  be  dropped  as  a  one-sided  conception  of  things? 
Does  it  not  exist  simply  because  we  view  life  from  our 
own  subjective  standpoint,  and  must  it  not  disappear  as 
soon  as  we  learn  to  comprehend  the  world  in  its  objective 
reality?  "  The  tendency  to  regard  evil  as  a  purely  nega- 
tive term  is  at  present  very  prevalent,  for  it  agrees  with 
the  spirit  of  the  times  and  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
notions  of  to-day. 

In  ancient  times  man  was  in  the  habit  of  objectify- 
ing the  various  aspirations  and  impulses  of  his  soul.  In 
order  to  understand  beauty  the  Greek  mind  fashioned  the 
ideal  of  Aphrodite,  and  the  moral  authority  of  righteous- 
ness appeared  to  the  Jew  as  Yahveh  the  Lord,  the  Legis- 
lator of  Mount  Sinai.  Religious  aspirations  were  actual- 
ised  in  the  Church  by  means  of  ceremonials  and  ecclesi- 
astical institutions. 

Things  changed  at  the  opening  of  that  era  in  the 
evolution  of  mankind  which  is  commonly  called  modern 
history.  A  new  age  was  prepared  through  the  inventions 
of  gunpowder,  the  compass,  and  printing,  and  began  at 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  447 

the  end  of  the  fifteenth  centuiy  with  the  discovery  of 
America,  and  the  Reformation.  The  more  the  horizon 
of  the  known  world  grew,  the  more  man  began  to  com- 
prehend the  importance  of  his  own  subjectivity.  The 
tendency  of  philosophy  since  Descartes  and  of  religion 
since  Luther,  has  been  to  concentrate  everything  in 
man's  individual  consciousness.  That  alone  should  have 
value  which  had  become  part  of  man's  soul.  Man's  con- 
sciousness became  his  world,  and  thus,  in  religion,  con- 
science began  to  be  regarded  as  the  ultimate  basis  of  con- 
duct. Men  felt  that  religion  should  not  be  an  external, 
but  an  internal,  factor.  Toleration  became  a  universal 
requirement,  and  subjectivitj^  was  made  the  cornerstone 
of  public  and  private  life.  Thus  the  era  of  the  Reforma- 
tion showed  itself  as  a  revolutionary  movement,  which, 
proclaiming  the  right  of  individualism  and  subjectivity, 
overthrew  the  traditional  authority  of  an  external  objec- 
tivity. 

The  originators  of  this  movement  did  not  intend  to 
discard  all  objectiA'e  authority,  but  the  spirit  of  nominal- 
ism which  dominated  them  prevailed  over  their  move- 
ment in  its  further  progress.  The  last  consequences  of 
the  principle  of  subjectivity,  which  starts  with  the  famous 
assumption  cogito  ergo  snvi^  were  not  anticipated  by  Des- 
cartes, for  he  naively  assumes  objective  existence  on  one 
of  the  most  trivial  arguments.  Nor  would  Luther  with 
his  peculiar  education  and  stubborn  narrowness,  which 
were  by  no  means  inconsistent  accompaniments  of  his 
greatness,  ever  have  endorsed  later  theories  based  upon 
the  purely  subjective  aspect  of  conscience ;  but  the  fact 
remains  that  the  last  consequence  of  the  recognition  of 


448  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

the  supremacy  of  the  subjective  principle  is  a  denial  of 
any  objective  authority  in  philosophy,  politics,  religion, 
and  ethics,  which  leads  in  politics  to  anarchism,  i.  e.,  in- 
dividualism pushed  to  its  extreme  ;  in  philosophy  to  ag- 
nosticism, i.  e.,  the  denial  of  any  cognisable  objectivity, 
worked  out  most  S3^stematicall3'  in  Kant's  critical  ideal- 
ism. In  ethics  it  is  the  refusal  to  recognise  any  objective 
authority  in  morals ;  which  leads  either  to  Bentham's 
ethical  egotism  and  hedonism  or  to  intuitionism,  and 
finally  to  Nietzsche's  immoralism. 

Our  present  civilisation  is  based  upon  the  Protestant 
ideal  of  individualism,  and  nobody  who  lives  and  moves 
in  our  time  can  be  blind  to  the  enormous  benefits  which 
we  derive  from  it.  Nevertheless,  we  must  beware  of  the 
onesidedness  of  subjectivism.  Objectivism  is  not  so 
utterly  erroneous  in  principle  as  it  appears  from  the  point 
of  view  of  modern  subjectivism.  The  external  methods 
of  the  Roman  Church  are  mistaken  ;  the  tyranny  of  its 
hierarchical  system  which  substitutes  the  priest's  author- 
ity and  an  infallible  papacy  for  God's  authority  is  radi- 
cally wrong ;  and  the  main  task  of  Protestantism  con- 
sisted in  protesting  against  this  authority,  which,  in  spite 
of  its  self -asserted  catholicity,  is  based  upon  the  human 
authority  of  fallible  mortals,  an  authority  that  was  more 
frequently  misused  through  bigotry  and  ignorance  than 
through  malice  and  selfishness. 

There  are  Protestants  who  might  object  that  Prot- 
estantism is  not  merely  negative;  it  is  also  positive.  It 
is  not  only  a  protest,  but  also  an  affirmation.  True,  in- 
deed !  But  most  of  the  Protestant  affirmations  are  simply 
relics  of  the  old  Romanism  which  bound  the  consciences 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  449 

of  man  and  crippled  his  reasoning  power.  The  fanatics 
among  the  Protestants  are  by  no  means  friends  of  liberty 
and  free  inquiry ;  and  the  positive  power,  the  new  factor 
in  history  that  was  destined  to  build  up  a  new  civilisa- 
tion, was  nothing  else  than  Science.  Therefore,  Protes- 
tantism is  not  as  yet  the  last  word  spoken  in  the  religious 
development  of  mankind.  We  must  look  to  higher  aims 
and  more  positive  issues,  and  a  new  reformation  of  the 
Church  will  obtain  them  only  on  the  condition  of  its 
again  recognising  the  importance  of  objectivity. 

Mankind  will  not  return  to  the  dogmatic  system  of 
hierarchical  institutions,  which  would  only  bind  again 
the  consciences  of  men  by  man-made  authority.  But  the 
fact  must  be  recognised  that  truth  is  not  a  mere  subjec- 
tive conception ;  it  must  be  seen  that  truth  is  a  statement 
of  facts,  and,  accordingly,  that  it  contains  an  objective 
element,  and  that  this  objective  element  is  the  essential 
part  of  established  truth. 

In  the  old  period  of  objectivism,  the  ultimate  author- 
ity was  lodged  in  great  men,  prophets,  reformers,  and 
priests,  whose  spirit,  after  it  had  been  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  the  powerful,  was  embodied  in  Church  institu- 
tions. The  new  objectivism  discards  all  human  author- 
ity;  it  rests  ultimately  upon  science,  which  is  an  appeal 
to  facts.  Truth  is  no  longer  what  the  Church  teaches,  or 
what  some  infallible  man  may  deem  wise  to  proclaim  ; 
nor  is  it  what  appears  to  me  as  true,  or  to  you  as  true ; 
but  it  is  that  which  according  to  methodical  critique  has 
been  proved  to  be  objectively  true,  i.  e.,  so  proved  that 
everybody  who  investigates  it  will  find  it  to  be  so. 

Objective  truth,  demonstrable  by  evidence  and  cap- 


450  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

able  of  revision,  or,  in  a  word,  Science,  is  the  highest, 
the  most  reliable  and  the  most  vakiable  revelation  of  God. 
God  reveals  himself  in  the  facts  of  life,  among  which  we 
include  our  afflictions  and  personal  experiences ;  God 
speaks  in  our  conscience,  which  is,  as  it  were,  the  moral 
instinct,  the  result  of  all  our  inherited  and  acquired  ex- 
periences, and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  voice  of  con- 
science makes  itself  heard  in  our  soul  with  that  automatic 
force  which  is  characteristic  of  all  deep-seated  subcon- 
scious reactions.  God  also  appears  in  our  sentiments, 
our  ideal  aspirations,  our  devotions,  our  hopes  and  our 
yearnings.  All  these  various  manifestations  are  impor- 
tant and  must  not  be  lost  sight  of ;  but  above  them  all  is 
the  objectivity  of  truth  which  speaks  through  science. 

It  is  impossible  for  all  men  to  be  scientists,  but  for 
that  reason  it  is  not  necessary  that  their  minds  and  hearts 
should  be  enslaved  by  blind  faith.  The  faith  of  every 
man  should  be  the  trust  in  truth,  not  in  fairy  tales  that 
must  be  taken  for  granted,  but  in  the  truth, — the  truth 
which  in  its  main  outlines  is  simple  enough  to  be  com- 
prehensible to  all, — the  truth  that  this  world  of  ours  is  a 
cosmic  harmony  in  which  no  wrong  can  be  done  without 
producing  evil  effects  all  around. 

Faith  in  the  objective  authority  of  truth  is  the  next 
step  in  the  religious  evolution  of  mankind.  We  stand 
now  at  the  threshold  of  the  third  period  which  will  be,  to 
characterise  it  in  a  word,  an  era  of  scientific  objectivism. 
The  tendency  of  the  second  era  was  negative,  revolution- 
ising, theorising;  the  tendency  of  the  third  will  be  posi- 
tive, constructive,  practical. 

Negativism  and  subjectivism  appear  from  tlie  stand- 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM. 


451 


point  of  the  positivism  and  objectivism  of  the  first  period 
as  the  work  of  the  destroyer,  of  the  negative  spirit,  the 
Devil.  It  is  a  reaction.  This  explains  why  Milton's 
Satan  actually  became  a  hero.  Milton  was  a  Protestant, 
a  revolutionist,  a  subjectivist,  and  he  unconsciously  sym- 
pathised with  Satan,  who  in  the  terms  of  a  philosopher  of 
the  age  declares : 

"The  mind  is  its  own  place  and  in  itself 
Can  make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a  hell  of  heaven. 
What  matter  where,  if  /  be  still  the  same 
And  what  I  should  be." 


Milton's  Satan.     (After  Dore.) 

The  negativism  of  the  second  period  is  not  a  mis- 
take. It  was  an  indispensable  condition  of  the  third 
period ;  for  it  manufactured  the  tools  for  a  higher  and 
better  positivism, — criticism.  But  criticism  is  insufficient 
for  positive  construction;  we  must  have  actual  results, 
methodical  work,  and  positive  issues;  and  the  prophet  of 
the  twentieth  century  finds  it  necessary  again  to  empha- 
sise the  importance  of  objectivity. 


452  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Is  Evil  Positive? 

A  modern  fable  characterises  the  relativity  of  good 
and  evil  in  the  story  of  a  farmer,  who,  weeding  his  field 
with  a  cultivator,  curses  the  morning-glories  which  grow 
luxuriantly  on  his  maize  stalks  as  being  created  by  the 
Devil.  In  the  meantime  his  little  daughter  weaves  a 
wreath  of  the  same  flowers  and  praises  the  beauty  of 
God's  handiwork.  Evil  and  good  may  be  relative,  but 
relativity  does  not  imply  non-existence.  Relations  are 
facts  too.  If  mischief  is  wrought  by  good  things  being 
out  of  place,  the  evil  does  not  become  chimerical  but  is 
as  positive  as  any  other  reality. 

In  the  same  way,  the  relativity  of  knowledge  does 
not  prove  (as  some  agnostic  philosophers  claim)  the  im- 
possibility of  knowledge.  Concrete  things,  such  as  stones 
and  other  material  bodies,  are  not  the  only  realities;  re- 
lations, too,  are  actual,  and  the  same  thing  may  under 
different  conditions  be  either  good  or  evil. 

A  proper  comprehension  of  the  relativity  of  good- 
ness and  badness,  far  from  invalidating  the  objectivity  of 
the  moral  ideal,  will  become  a  great  stimulus  that  will 
work  for  the  realisation  of  goodness,  for  there  ought  to 
be  nothing  so  bad  but  that  it  can  by  judicious  manage- 
ment be  turned  to  good  account.  Badness,  however,  is 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  mere  negation,  and  the  asser- 
tion is  made  that  it  is  not  a  positive  factor.  Looking 
for  the  most  characteristic  representative  of  this  view 
among  the  ablest  authors  of  our  time,  we  find  a  statement 
written  by  the  well-known  author  of  the  novel  Ground 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  453 

Arms!  Bertha  von  Suttner,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
advocates  of  universal  peace  on  earth.  She  knows  as 
well  as  Schopenhauer  that  the  ills  of  life  are  positive,  for 
she  describes  all  the  horrors  of  war  in  their  drastic  real- 
ity. Nevertheless,  Bertha  von  Suttner  devotes  in  her  in- 
genious book  The  Inventory  of  a  Soul  a  whole  chapter  to 
the  proposition  "  The  Principle  of  Evil  a  Phantom."* 
She  says :  • 

"I  do  not  believe  in  the  phantoms  of  badness,  misery,  and 
death.  They  are  mere  shadows,  zeros,  nothingnesses.  They  are 
negations  of  real  things,  but  not  real  things  themselves.  .  .  .  There 
is  light,  but  there  is  no  darkness  :  darkness  is  only  the  non-exist- 
ence of  light.  There  is  life,  death  is  only  a  local  ceasing  of  life- 
phenomena.  .  .  .  We  grant  that  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  God  and 
Devil,  are  at  least  thinkable,  but  there  are  other  opposites  in  which 
it  is  apparent  that  one  is  the  non-existence  of  the  other.  For  in- 
stance :  noise  and  silence.  Think  of  a  silence  so  powerful  as  to 
suppress  a  noise.  .  .  .  Darkness  has  no  degree,  while  light  has. 
There  is  more  light  or  less  light,  but  various  shades  of  darkness 
can  mean  only  little  or  less  light.  Thus,  life  is  a  magnitude,  but 
death  is  a  zero.  Something  and  nothing  cannot  be  in  struggle  with 
each  other.  Nothing  is  without  arms,  nothing  as  an  independent 
idea  is  only  an  abortion  of  human  weaknesses  .  .  .  two  are  necessary 
to  produce  struggle.  If  I  am  in  the  room,  I  am  here;  if  I  leave  it, 
I  am  no  longer  here.  There  can  be  no  quarrel  between  my  ego- 
present  and  ego-absent." 

This  is  the  most  ingenious  and  completest  denial  of 
the  existence  of  evil  that  we  know  of,  and  it  is  presented 
with  great  force.  It  is  the  expression  of  the  negativism 
of  philosophy  from  Descartes  to  Spencer.  It  seems  to  be 
consistent  monism.     And  yet,  we  cannot  accept  it. 

^ Inventarium  euier  Seele.     Chap.  XV. 


454  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

True  enough,  the  idea  of  a  personal  Devil  is  as  im- 
aginary as  a  fairy,  or  an  elf,  or  a  hobgoblin ;  true  also 
that  there  is  no  evil  in  itself,  and  no  goodness  in  itself; 
the  dualism  of  the  Manichees  is  untenable.  The  evil 
principle  cannot  be  conceived  as  an  independent  sub- 
stance, essence,  or  entity.  But  for  that  reason  we  cannot 
shut  our  eyes  to  its  real  and  positive  existence.  Granted 
that  silence  is  the  absence  of  noise ;  yet  noise  is  not 
goodness,  neither  is  silence  badness.  While  I  think  or 
write,  noise  is  to  me  an  evil,  while  silence  is  bliss. 
Silence,  where  a  word  of  cheer  is  expected  or  needed, 
may  be  a  very  positive  evil,  and  a  lie  is  not  merely  an 
absence  of  truth.  The  absence  of  food  is  a  mere  nega- 
tion, but  considered  in  relation  to  its  surroundings,  as 
an  empty  stomach,  it  is  hunger;  and  hunger  is  a  positive 
factor  in  this  world  of  ours.  Sickness  can  be  considered 
as  a  mere  absence  of  health,  but  sickness  is  caused  either 
by  a  disorder  in  the  system  or  the  presence  of  injurious 
influences,  both  of  which  are  unquestionably  positive.  A 
debt  is  a  negative  factor  in  the  books  of  the  debtor,  but 
what  is  negative  to  the  debtor  is  positive  to  the  creditor. 

If  negative  ideas  were  "  mere  abortions  of  human 
weakness,"  as  Bertha  von  Suttner  claims,  how  could 
mathematicians  have  any  use  for  the  minus  sign?  And 
if  the  idea  of  evil  were  an  empty  superstition,  how  could 
its  influence  upon  mankind  have  been  so  lasting?  On 
the  one  hand  it  is  true  that  all  existence  is  positive,  but 
on  the  other  hand  we  ought  to  know  that  existence  in 
the  abstract  is  neither  good  nor  bad ;  goodness  and  bad- 
ness depend  upon  the  relations  among  the  various  exist- 
ent things.     And  these  relations  may  be  good  as  well  as 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  455 

evil.  Some  existences  destroy  other  existences.  Certain 
bacilli  are  destructive  of  human  life,  certain  antidotes 
destroy  bacilli.  There  are  everywhere  parasites  living 
upon  other  lives,  and  what  is  positive  or  life-sustaining 
to  the  one  is  negative  and  destructive  to  the  other,  and 
every  such  negation  is  a  reality,  the  effectiveness  of 
which  neutralises  the  action  of  another  reality.'" 

The  idea  of  goodness  is  by  no  means  equivalent  with 
existence,  and  badness  with  non-existence.  Existence  is 
the  reality ;  it  is  the  indivisible  whole,  the  one  and  all. 
Good  and  evil,  however,  are  views  taken  from  a  certain 
given  standpoint,  and  from  this  standpoint  good  and  evil 
are  features  forming  a  contrast,  but  as  such  they  are 
always  actualities ;  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  a 
mere  nothing.  The  question  is  only  whether  we  have  a 
right  to  regard  our  oivn  standpoint  as  the  positive  one, 
representing  that  which  is  good,  and  all  the  powers  that 
hinder  human  life  as  negative  or  evil. 

The  answer  to  this  question  seems  to  be  that  any 
and  every  being  will  naturally  regard  its  own  standpoint 
as  the  positively  given  fact,  and  every  factor  that  de- 
stroys it  as  negative ;  his  pleasure  appears  to  him  the 
standard  of  goodness. 

And  we  grant  that  every  being  is  entitled  to  take 
this  standpoint,  and  that  subjectivism  naturally  forms 
the  initial  stage  of  all  ethical  valuation.  But  we  cannot 
rest  satisfied  with  the  principle  of  subjective  autonomy  as 
a  solution  of  the  problem  of  good  and  evil. 


*This  exposition  appeared  first  in  The  Monist,  Vol.  VI.,  No.  4,  pp.  5S5  ff. 
In  reply  the  Baroness  Bertha  von  Suttner  wrote  a  few  courteous  lines  of  recogni- 
tion which  may  indicate  that  she  is  inclined  to  accept  the  author's  arguments. 


456  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


/s  tli(')-c  ail  Objective  Standard  of  Goodness? 

Supposing  that  good  were  indeed  simply  that  which 
gives  pleasure  or  enhances  my  life,  and  bad  that  which 
gives  pain  or  threatens  to  destroy  it,  the  standard  of 
goodness  and  badness  would  be  purely  subjective.  The 
famous  savage  chief  quoted  by  Tylor,  and  from  Tylor  by 
Spencer,  would  have  fathomed  the  problem  of  good  and 
evil  when  he  declared  that  "  bad  is  if  anybody  took  away 
his  wife,  but  if  he  took  away  the  wife  of  some  one  else, 
that  would  be  good."*  Good  would  be  that  which  pleases 
me;  and  the  good  as  an  objective  reality  would  not  exist. 
There  would  be  something  good  for  me,  for  you,  and  for 
many  others,  but  what  might  be  good  for  me  might  be 
bad  for  you.  Goodness  and  badness  would  be  purely 
subjective  qualities  without  any  objective  value. 

The  view  which  bases  ethics  upon  a  consideration  of 
pleasure  and  pain  and  defines  goodness  as  that  which 
affords  the  greatest  amount  of  pleasurable  feelings  is 
called  hedonism.  The  coarsest  form  of  hedonism  (as 
represented  b}^  Bentham)  makes  the  pleasure  of  the  in- 
dividual supreme;  it  bases  its  ethics  upon  selfishness, 
and  sees  in  altruism  only  refined  egotism.  The  altruist 
is  said  to  love  but  himself  in  others. 

Let  me  add  here  that  the  intuitionalist  basing  ethics 
upon  the  voice  of  his  conscience  is,  closely  considered, 
also  a  hedonist,  or  at  least  a  subjectivist,  for  he  finds  the 
ultimate  authority  for  conduct  in  himself,  viz.,  in  the 
pleasure  of  those  motor  ideas  of  his  which  he  calls  his 

*  Tylor,   Primitive  Culture,  Vol  II.,  p.  318. 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  457 

conscience:  what  he  is  pleased  to  consider  as  ethical,  he 
thinks  is  ethical.  His  standard  of  morality  is  the  sub- 
jectivity of  his  conviction,  which  he  is  unable  either  to 
analyse  or  to  trace  to  its  origin.  He  differs  from  Bent- 
ham's  hedonism  of  ethical  egotism  only  in  this,  that  the 
pleasure  of  his  conscience  overrules  the  lower  pleasures 
of  the  senses. 

Modern  utilitarianism,  as  represented  by  Mr.  Spen- 
cer, remains  a  purely  subjective  ethics,  for  it  makes  the 
greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number  the  maxim  of 
ethics ;  and  by  doing  so  it  introduces  no  objective  prin- 
ciple, but  it  simply  proposes  to  replace  every  single  sub- 
jectivity by  the  sum  total  of  all  subjectivities ;  and  sub- 
jective ethical  maxims  are  not  as  yet  truly  ethical ;  they 
remain  on  the  level  of  the  world-conception  of  Tylor's 
savage. 

All  subjective  ethical  theories  fail  to  see  the  cardinal 
point  of  ethics,  for  the  very  nature  of  ethics  is  objective. 
If  there  is  no  objective  authority  for  moral  conduct,  we 
had  better  openly  declare  that  ethics  is  an  illusion  and 
what  we  call  ethics  is  simply  an  arithmetical  calculation 
in  which  pleasures  and  pains  are  weighed  against  one  an- 
other and  morality  is  at  best  only  a  dietetics  of  the  soul. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  he  who  opens  his  eyes  will 
see  that  there  is  an  objective  authority  for  conduct  in  life. 
Life  and  the  factors  in  life  are  not  purely  what  we  make 
them.  Here  we  are  to  run  a  race,  and  the  course  of  the 
individual  as  much  as  that  of  mankind  and  all  living 
beings  is  prescribed  in  a  very  definite  and  unmistakable 
way  on  the  lines  of  what  since  Darwin  we  have  accus- 
tomed  ourselves  to  call  evolution.     We  must  learn  to 


458  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

recognise  the  necessity  of  progress  which  leads  us  on- 
ward on  a  straight  and  narrow  path.  Those  who  willingly 
obey  the  laws  of  progress  advance  on  the  path  in  spite  of 
its  thorns,  joyonsly  and  gladly.  The  reluctant  are  urged 
forward  and  feel  the  smart  of  nature's  whip,  while  he  who 
obstinately  refuses  to  heed  the  laws  of  the  cosmic  order 
goes  to  the  wall. 

Nature  has  no  consideration  for  our  sentiments,  be 
they  pleasures  or  pains.  Happv  is  he  who  delights  in 
acting  according  to  her  laws.  But  he  who  seeks  other 
pleasures  is  doomed.  Look  at  the  situation  from  whatever 
standpoint  you  may,  the  criterion  of  right  and  wrong,  of 
good  and  bad,  of  true  and  false,  lies  not  in  the  greater 
or  lesser  amount  of  pleasure  and  pain,  but  in  the  agree- 
ment of  our  actions  with  the  cosmic  order ;  and  morality 
is  that  which  is  in  accord  with  the  law  of  evolution. 
Ethics  teaches  us  to  do  voluntarily  what  after  all  we  must 
do  whether  or  not  it  may  please  us. 

In  a  word,  ethics  is  unthinkable  without  duty,  and 
the  essential  element  of  duty  is  its  objective  reality,  its 
inflexible  sternness,  and  its  austere  authority. 

We  say  to  the  hedonist,  a  good  action  is  not  moral 
because  it  gives  pleasure,  but  because  it  accords  with 
duty ;  and  we  must  not  be  on  the  search  for  that  which 
gives  us  pleasure  but  must  endeavor  to  find  our  highest 
pleasure  in  doing  that  which  the  cosmic  law  (or,  reli- 
giously speaking,  God)  demands  of  us. 

Those  who  deny  that  there  is  any  objective  norm  of 
right  and  wrong  in  the  universe,  are  inclined  to  claim 
with  Huxley,  that  man  survived  not  on  account  of  his 
morality,  but  on  the  contrary,  on  account  of  his  immoral- 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  459 

ity.  It  has  been  said  that  man  is  more  rapacious,  more 
egotistical,  more  immoral,  than  brutes.  Without  denying 
that  an  immoral  man  may  sometimes  appear  more  brut- 
ish than  a  brute,  we  cannot  see  that  man  is  as  immoral 
as,  or  even  more  immoral  than,  brutes.  But  the  case  is 
worth  considering. 

Says  the  wolf  in  ^sop's  fable:  "Why  is  it  right 
for  you  to  eat  the  lamb,  when  for  me  it  is  supposed  to  be 
wrong?  "  Is  not  man  in  the  same  predicament  as  the 
wolf,  and  does  not  mankind  slaughter  more  animals  than 
all  the  wolves  in  the  world  ever  ate? 

Granted  that  the  wolf's  pleadings  are  substantiated, 
we  observe  that  man  lives,  but  wolves  are  exterminated, 
which  seems  good  evidence  in  favor  of  man's  being  in 
greater  accord  with  the  cosmic  laws.  And  yet  the  actions 
of  both,  the  wolf  and  the  man,  seem  to  be  identical;  or 
rather,  if  the  blackness  of  a  crime  depended  upon  quanti- 
tative measurement  by  addition,  we  should  have  to  decide 
in  favor  of  the  wolves ;  for  man  at  the  present  time  kills 
more  sheep,  pigs,  and  other  animals  in  one  year  than 
wolves  could  devour  in  a  century.  Yet  man  possesses 
the  impudence  to  call  the  wolf  a  robber  and  to  drive 
him  from  the  fold  whenever  he  attempts  to  imitate  man's 
voracity.  What  is  the  justification  of  slaughter  in  the 
one  case,  and  what  its  condemnation  in  the  other? 

In  answering  this  question  we  shall  not  idealise 
man's  mode  of  living  on  the  flesh  of  his  fellow-creatures. 
For  it  appears  that  from  a  moral  standpoint  it  would  be 
preferable  to  sustain  life  without  slaughtering  lambs  and 
calves,  fowl  and  fishes.  The  case  must  not  be  considered 
from  an  abstract  or  ideal  standpoint,  but  simply  treated 


460  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

as  a  comparison  of  the  wolf's  conduct  with  man's  con- 
duct; and  we  find  that  the  more  sheep  a  man  eats,  the 
more  he  raises.  The  wolf  eats  them  without  raising 
them.  The  wolf  murders  the  lamb.  However,  the 
slaughter  of  the  lamb  by  man  is  no  murder,  for  it  serves 
to  increase  and  to  sustain  human  souls,  and  the  souls  of 
man  possess  more  truth  and  a  higher  insight  into  nature. 
The  lamb  dies  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  humanity,  and 
this  sacrifice  is  right  and  good  if,  and  in  so  far  as,  it  sub- 
stitutes higher  life  for  lower  life.  Subjectively  considered 
the  wolf  has  the  same  right  as  man  to  kill  a  lamb ;  and 
also  the  same  right  as  the  lamb  would  have  to  kill  wolves 
or  men.  The  difference  between  man's  and  the  wolf's 
actions  appears  only  when  we  take  into  account  the  objec- 
tive conditions  of  man's  superiority,  giving  him  a  wider 
dominion  of  power  which  he  can  maintain  because  his 
soul  is  a  better  reflector  of  truth  than  are  the  notions  of  a 
wolf. 

We  must  insist  here  that  the  attainment  of  a  higher 
life,  consisting  in  a  fuller  comprehension  of  truth  and  a 
greater  acquisition  of  power,  is  one  of  the  most  essential 
requisites  of  morality.  Morality  is  not  a  negative  qual- 
ity, but  a  very  positive  endeavor.  We  must  abandon  the 
old  standpoint  of  negativism,  that  goodness  consists  in 
not  doing  certain  things  which  are  forbidden.  Genuine 
goodness  consists  in  daring  and  doing ;  and  in  doing  the 
right  thing.  One  genuine  and  positive  virtue  atones  for 
many  sins  that  consist  in  mere  omissions.  The  sheep  is 
by  no  means  (as  is  frequently  claimed)  more  moral  than 
the  wolf.  The  wolf  is  bad  enough,  but  he  is  at  least 
courageous  and  keen ;  the  sheep  is  a  coward,  and  with 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  461 


all  its  cowardice  it  is  stupid.  It  is  time  to  discard  the 
ovine  ideal  of  morality  which  praises  all  lack  of  energy 
and  of  accomplishments  as  the  highest  type  of  goodness. 
What  we  need  is  a  positive  conception  of  virtue  based 
upon  a  careful  consideration  of  the  requirements  of  life. 
What  higher  life  and  lower  life  is  cannot  be  declared 
to  be  an  arbitrary  distinction.  It  is  not  purely  subjective, 
but  can  be  defined  according  to  an  objective  standard. 
Good  to  the  savage  is  that  which  pleases  him,  and  bad 
that  which  hurts  him.  Good,  to  him  who  has  deciphered 
the  religious  mystery  of  the  universe  and  understands 
the  nature  of  God,  is  that  which  produces  higher  life,  and 
bad  is  that  which  hinders,  or  perverts,  or  destroys  it. 

The   God-Idea. 

God  is  a  religious  term,  and  it  is  often  claimed  that 
knowledge  of  God  does  not  fall  within  the  domain  of  sci- 
ence ;  the  idea  of  God  and  all  other  religious  terms  are 
claimed  to  be  extra-scientific.  Thus  there  are  two  parties 
both  of  which  are  under  the  influence  of  nominalistic 
subjectivism :  religious  agnostics  and  infidel  agnostics. 
The  belief  of  the  former  is  as  irrational  as  the  disbelief  of 
the  latter.  If  there  is  an  objective  authority  for  conduct, 
we  must  be  able  to  know  it ;  we  can  obey  it  only  in  so 
far  as  we  know  it.  Now  experience  teaches  us  that  there 
is  an  authority  for  conduct,  and  the  theory  of  evolution 
promises  to  prove  it  by  positive  evidence.  This  authority 
for  conduct  is  called  in  the  language  of  religion  "God." 
Our  scientists  formulate  under  the  name  ' '  laws  of  na- 
ture"  that  which  is  immutable  in  the  various  phenomena, 
that  which  is  universal  in  the  variety  of  happenings,  that 


462 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


whicli  is  eternal  in  the  transient,  and  every  law  of  nature 
is  in  its  sphere  a  rigorous  authority  for  conduct  which  in 
this  sense  is  part  and  parcel  of  God's  being. 

The  most  important  laws  of  nature  in  the  ethical 
domain  are  those  which  regulate  all  the  various  and 
sometimes  very  delicate  relations  of  man  to  man,  which 
concatenate  our  fates  and  set  soul  to  soul  in  a  mutually 
helpful  responsion. 

Existence  is  one  harmonious  entirety  ;  there  is  not  a 
thing  in  the  world  hut  is  embraced  in  the  whole  as  a  part 


Lucifer  Before  the  Fall.      From  the  Hortus  Deliciarum. 


of  the  whole.  The  One  and  All  is  the  condition, of  every 
creature's  being;  it  is  the  breath  of  our  breath,  the  sen- 
tiency  of  our  feelings,  the  strength  of  our  strength. 
Nothing  exists  of  itself  or  to  itself.  All  things  are  inter- 
related ;  and  as  all  masses  are  held  together  by  their 
gravity  in  a  mutual  attraction,  so  there  is  at  the  bottom 
of  all  sentiment  a  mysterious  longing,  a  yearning  for  the 
fulness  of  the  whole,  a  panpathy  which  finds  a  powerful 
utterance  in  the  psalms  of  all  the  religions  on  earth.     No 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM. 


463 


creature  is  an  isolated  being,  for  the  whole  of  existence 
affects  the  smallest  of  its  parts.     Says  Emerson: 

"AH  are  needed  by  each  one, 
Nothing  is  fair  or  good  alone." 

The  unity   of  the  whole,  the   intercoherence   of  all 
things,  the  oneness  of  all  norms  that  shape  life,  is  not  a 


The  Fallen  Lucifer.      (After  Dore.) 

mere  theory  but  an  actual  reality ;  and  in  this  sense  the 
scriptural  saying  "  God  is  Love"  is  a  truth  demonstrable 
by  natural  science. 

Science  proves  that  the  whole  of  existence  presents 
itself  throughout  as  regulated  by  law ;  that  it  is  not  a 
chaos,  not  an  incomprehensible  riddle,  but  a  cosmos.  As 
a  cosmos   it  is  intelligible,   and  sentient  creatures   can 


464  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

learn  to  unuerstand  its  nature  and  adapt  themselves  to  it. 
God  is  that  feature  in  the  world  which  conditions  and 
produces  reason ;  and  reason  is  nothing  but  a  reflexion  of 
the  world-order.  The  cosmic  order  of  existence,  the  har- 
mony of  its  laws,  its  systematic  regularity,  makes  intelli- 
gence possible,  and  sentient  beings  will  naturally  develop 
into  minds.  God  is  that  which  changes  individuals  into 
persons,  for  reason  and  a  rational  will  are  the  essential 
characteristic  of  personality. 

Taking  this  ground  we  say,  (adopting  here,  for  the 
sake  of  simplicity,  the  religious  term  God,)  those  beings 
are  good  which  are  images  of  God. 

The  nature  of  progress  is  not  (as  Mr.  Spencer  has 
it)  an  increase  of  heterogeneity,  but  growth  of  soul. 
Evolution  is  not  mere  adaptation  to  surroundings,  but  a 
more  and  more  perfect  incarnation  of  truth.  Adaptation 
to  surroundings  is,  from  an  ethical  point  of  view,  an  inci- 
dental blessing  only  of  the  power  afforded  by  right  con- 
duct.* 

All  facts  of  experience  are  revelations,  but  those 
facts  which  teach  us  morality  (man's  conduct  to  his  fel- 
low-beings) embody  truths  of  special  importance.  They 
exercise  a  wholesome  influence  upon  the  development  of 
our  souls,  even  though  the  primitive  man  was  not  able  to 
fully  understand  their  why  and  wherefore.  In  the  lack  of 
a  clear  comprehension  of  facts  themselves,  man's  imagi- 
nation clothes  them  in  the  garb  of  mythological  imager3-. 
In  our  own  days  the  great  teachers  of  morality  are  still 
regarded  as  the  Indian  regards  the  medicine-man,  and 

*  Cf.  I/omilus  of  Science,  "The  Test  of  Progress,"  p.  3G,  and  "  The  F.tliics  of 
Evolution,"  p   41, 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  465 

the  sacraments  of  the  Cluirch  arc  treated  like  the  totems 
of  savages.  Religion  is  now  slowly  passing  out  of  the 
old  stage  of  magic  into  the  higher  stage  of  a  direct  com- 
prehension of  facts.  Myth  changes  into  knowledge,  and 
the  allegory  of  the  parable  begins  to  be  understood. 

As  astrology  changed  into  astronomy,  so  the  reli- 
gion of  miracles  will  give  way  to  the  religion  of  science. 

We  often  hear  God  spoken  of  as  good,  and  he  is 
sometimes  represented  as  goodness  in  general.  But  God 
is  more  than  goodness.  God  is  the  objective  realit}'  of 
existence  regarded  as  the  ultimate  authority  for  conduct. 
God  is  thus  the  standard  of  goodness ;  to  call  God  good 
is  an  anthropomorphism.  His  creatures  are  more  or  less 
good,  according  as  they  are  more  or  less  faithful  portraits 
of  him,  and  as  they  obey  his  will.  God  is  neither  good 
nor  bad,  neither  moral  nor  immoral,  he  is  unmoral;  yet, 
his  nature  and  character  is  the  ultimate  criterion  of  good- 
ness and  of  morality,  x^nd  God's  will  can  be  learned 
from  his  revelations,  which  in  the  terms  of  science  are 
called  experiences,  and  which  we  formulate  with  exact- 
ness in  what  is  called  "the  laws  of  nature." 

God  is  not  existence  itself;  He  is  not,  either  singly 
or  collectively,  the  facts  of  the  world ;  He  is  not  the  sum 
total  of  objects  or  existences.  God  is  the  norm  of  exist- 
ence, that  factor  which  conditions  the  cosmic  order  and  is 
formulated  by  naturalists  as  laws  of  nature.  Being  the 
norm  of  existence,  God  is,  above  all,  that  omnipresent 
feature  in  the  facts,  in  the  objects  of  the  world,  in  reality, 
which  commands  obedience.  God's  will  appears  as  that 
something  in  experience  to  which  we  have  to  conform. 
In  a  word,  God  is  the  standard   of  morality  and  the  ulti- 


466  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

mate  autliority  for  conduct.  This  is  uomotlieism,  but  not 
pantheism,  for  it  recognises  the  distinction  between  God 
and  the  All  or  sum  total  of  existence.  God  is  something 
distinct  and  definite,  not  an  indifferent  omneity.  This  is 
monotheism,  but  not  the  old  monotheism,  for  it  no  longer 
looks  upon  God  as  one  individual  ego-being.  Yet  it  pre- 
serves the  nucleus  of  the  oldest  conception  of  God,  and 
accepts  at  the  same  time  all  that  is  true  in  pantheism.* 

God  was  always  an  idea  of  moral  import.  God  was 
and  will  remain  (so  long  as  the  word  is  retained)  the 
ultimate  authority  for  conduct.  Since  the  order  of  the 
world  in  its  most  general  features  is  of  intrinsic  neces- 
sity, which  means  that  under  no  conditions  could  it  be 
imagined  otherwise,  God  is  the  raison  d'' etre  not  only  of 
the  world  as  it  actually  exists  but  of  any  possible  world ; 
and  in  this  sense  nomotheism  teaches  that  God  is  super- 
natural. Supernaturalism  may  be  untenable  as  it  was 
understood  \)y  dogmatists,  j'et  there  is  a  truth  in  super- 
naturalism  which  will  remain  true  forever. 

Those  who  see  in  the  facts  of  nature  only  matter  in 
motion  will  naturally  be  surprised  at  the  fact  that  a  cos- 
mos with  living  and  morally  aspiring  beings  can  develop 
out  of  it.  A  deeper  insight  into  the  conditions  of  nature 
reveals  to  us  that  the  world  is  a  well  regulated  cosmos, 
having  its  own  definite  and  immutable  laws,  and  these 
laws  are  realities  as  much  as  material  things.     They  are 

*Pantltcism  identifies  God  and  the  All.  Nomotheism  teaches  that  the  laws  of 
nature  are  not  laws  given  by  God  as  a  lawgiver  may  issue  ordinances,  but  that  they 
are  manifestations  of  God  and  as  such  parts  of  the  Deity.  They  are  particular 
aspects  of  the  eternal  and  all  comprehensive  norm  of  existence.  Monotheism  is 
the  theory  that  there  is  one  God,  and  monotheism  is  commonly  understood  to  mean 
that  this  one  God  is  a  personal  being.  See  the  author's  Religion  of  Science,  pp., 
ig  et  seq..  The  Authority  for  Conduct. 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  467 

not  concrete  entities,  but  they  are  real,  nevertheless,  and 
indeed  of  greater  importance  than  the  existence  of  sense- 
perceptible  objects.  The  cosmos  is  not  only  an  enormous 
mass  of  innumerable  atoms,  and  molecules,  and  masses 
of  suns  and  stars,  but  its  finer  texture  shows  that  down 
into  its  most  delicate  details  it  is  a  wonderful  systematic 
whole,  full  of  life  and  consistency,  and  possessing  an  out- 
spoken and  clearly  intelligible  character,  and  the  world- 
order  which  makes  the  world  a  whole  possesses  objectiv- 
ity, i.  e.,  it  is  a  reality  independent  of  what  we  think  it 
to  be.  The  world  is  not  as  we  think  it  to  be,  but  we 
must  think  the  world  as  it  is,  and  our  duty  is  to  act 
accordingly. 

These  are  the  plain  facts  of  science  which  even  the 
man  who  has  no  idea  of  science  must  heed.  Only  those 
creatures  can  in  the  long  run  of  evolution  survive  who 
act  according  to  the  truth.  Thus,  the  truth  became  em- 
bodied in  moral  rules,  even  before  science  could  deduce 
or  explain  them.  Religion  is  a  revelation  in  so  far  as  it 
is  an  anticipation  of  certain  truths  which  were  at  the  time 
of  their  invention  still  uncomprehended.  Religious  ideas, 
accordingly,  had  to  be  symbols,  and  could  be  communi- 
cated only  in  parables.  Now,  the  more  science  progres- 
ses, the  better  shall  we  learn  to  understand  the  meaning 
of  these  parables. 

God  is  in  all  things,  but  he  is  best  revealed  in  man, 
— especially  in  the  morally  aspiring  man,  and  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  ideal  of  a  God-man,  or  Christ, — a  Saviour 
whose  teachings  are  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 

Every  man's  conception  of  God  is  a  nieasure  of  his 
own  stature.      He  pictures  God  according  to  his  compre- 


468  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

hension,  and  tlius  it  is  natviral  that  even'  man  lias  a  dif- 
ferent notion  of  God,  evei'v  one's  God  being  characteristic 
of  his  mental  and  moral  caliber.  On  the  lowest  stages  of 
civilisation  devils  and  gods  are  almost  indistinguishable, 
but  while  tlie3'  become  properly  differentiated  in  the  on- 
ward march  of  mankind  we  cannot  fail  to  detect  the  par- 
allelism between  God  and  Satan  which  is  never  lost.  The 
god  of  savages  is  a  bloodthirsty  chieftain ;  the  god  of  sen- 
timentalists is  a  good  old  papa ;  the  god  of  the  supersti- 
tious is  a  magician  and  a  trickster ;  the  god  of  the  slave 
is  a  tyrannical  master ;  the  god  of  the  egotist  is  an  ego- 
world-soul ;  and  the  gods  of  the  wise,  of  the  just,  of  the 
free,  of  the  courageous  are  wisdom,  justice,  freedom,  and 
courage.  The  conception  of  evil  in  all  these  phases  will 
always  be  the  contrast  to  the  ideal  embodiment  of  all 
goodness. 

Satan  is  at  once  a  rebel  and  a  tyrant.  He  proclaims 
independence  but  his  rule  bodes  oppression  and  slavery. 
He  himself  is  represented  in  chains,  for  the  libert3'  of 
sin,  which  is  licence,  enthralls  the  mind.  As  Satan  is  a 
captive  of  his  own  making,  so  all  the  beings  that  belong 
to  him  are  his  prisoners.  He  is  their  tortiirer  and  de- 
stroyer. 

A  most  drastic  picture  of  Satan  which  is  found  in 
the  missal  of  Poitiers,*  is  described  by  Didron  as  follows : 

"  He  is  chained  to  the  mouth  of  hell  as  a  dog  to  its  kennel,  and 
yet  wields  his  trident  sceptre  as  the  monarch  of  the  place  which  he 
guards.  Cerberus  and  Pluto  in  one,  he  is  yet  a  Cerberus  of  Chris- 
tian art,  a  demon  more  hideous  and  more  filled  with  energy  than 
Pagan  art  has  offered.  .  .  .  Tlrs  image   figures   the  various  aspects 

*  iee  the  illustr;uion  on  page  441. 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  469 

of  infernal  sin,  by  its  many  faces,  having  a  face  on  the  breast  as 
well  as  on  the  head,  a  face  on  each  shoulder  and  a  face  at  each 
hip.  How  many  more  behind?  With  long  ears  like  those  of  a 
hound,  thick  short  horns  of  a  bull,  his  legs  and  arms  are  covered 
with  scales,  and  seem  to  issue  from  the  mouths  of  the  faces  at  his 
joints.  He  has  a  lion's  head  with  tusks,  and  hands  like  the  claws 
of  a  bear.  His  body,  open  at  the  waist,  reveals  a  nest  of  serpents 
darting  forth  and  hissing.  In  this  monster  we  find  all  the  elements 
of  a  dragon,  leviathan,  lion,  fox,  viper,  bear,  bull,  and  wild  boar. 
It  is  a  compound  of  each  evil  quality  in  these  animals,  embodied 
in  a  human  form."     Didron,  Iconography  II.,  p.   ii8. 

While  Satan  is  the  rebel  who  seeks  liberty  for  him- 
self and  oppression  of  others,  God's  kingdom  signifies 
the  establishment  of  right,  which  insures  the  liberties 
of  all.  Satan  promises  liberty,  but  God  gives  liberty. 
Schleiermacher,  a  learned  and  thoughtful  man  but  of  a 
weak  constitution,  physically  as  well  as  spiritually,  still 
bows  down  in  submissive  awe  before  a  God  whom  he  con- 
ceived most  probably  after  the  model  of  the  Prussian 
government,  and  defines  religion  as  the  "feeling  of  abso- 
lute dependence." 

Poor  Schleiermacher !  What  an  abominable  religion 
didst  thou  preach  in  spite  of  thy  philosophical  caution 
which,  in  the  eyes  of  zealous  believers,  amounted  to 
heresy ! 

It  is  worth  while  to  criticise  Schleiermacher's  defini- 
tion of  religion,  because  it  found  favor  with  many  people, 
especially  in  liberal  circles ;  for  it  appealed  to  the  free 
religious  people  as  a  definition  which  omitted  the  name 
of  God  and  retained  the  substance  of  religion.  Would  it 
not  be  better  to  retain  the  name  of  God  and  purify  its 
significance,  than  to  discard  the  word  and  retain  the  sub- 


470 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


The  FEEr.iNG  of  Dependence.     (After  Sasha  Schneider.) 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  471 

stance  and  source  of  the  old  superstitions?  But  it  is  an 
old  experience  tliat  the  Liberals  are  iconoclasts  of  ex- 
ternal formalities  and  idolaters  of  reactionary  thoughts. 
They  retain  the  cause  of  obstruction,  and  discard  some 
of  its  indifferent  results,  in  which  it  happens  to  find  ex- 
pression. They  cure  the  symptoms  of  the  disease  but 
are  very  zealous  in  extolling  its  cause  as  the  source  of  all 
that  is  good. 

Schopenhauer  in  comment  upon  Schleiermacher's 
definition,  said  that  if  religion  be  the  feeling  of  absolute 
dependence,  the  most  religious  animal  would  not  be  man, 
but  the  cur. 

To  the  lovers  of  freedom  the  feeling  of  dependence 
is  a  curse,  and  Sasha  Schneider  has  well  pictured  it  as  a 
terrible  monster  whose  prey  are  the  weak — those  whose 
religion  is  absolute  submissiveness. 

Truly  if  we  cannot  have  a  religion  which  makes  us 
free  and  independent,  let  us  discard  religion !  Religion 
must  be  in  accord  not  only  with  morality  but  also  with 
philosophy;  not  only  with  justice,  but  also  with  science; 
not  only  with  order,  but  also  with  freedom. 

Man  is  dependent  upon  innumerable  conditions  of 
his  life ;  yet  his  aspiration  is  not  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
consciousness  of  his  plight ;  his  aspiration  is  to  become 
independent  and  to  become  more  and  more  the  master  of 
his  destiny.  If  religion  is  the  expression  of  that  which 
constitutes  the  humanity  of  man,  Schleiermacher's  defi- 
nition is  wrong  and  misleading,  for  religion  is  the  very 
opposite.  Religion  is  that  which  makes  man  more  of  a 
man,  which  develops  his  faculties  and  allows  him  more 
independence. 


472 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Monarcliical  Europe  lias  generally  characterised  the 
Devil  as  the  rebel  in  the  universe,  and  in  a  certain  sense 
he  is.  But  he  represents  revolution  only  in  its  misguided 
attempts  to  gain  liberty.  Every  rebellion  which  is  not 
in  its  own  nature  self-destructive,  is  an  expression  of  the 
divine  spirit.  Every  dash  for  liberty  is  a  righteous  deed, 
and  a  revolutionary  movement  that  has  the  power  and  in- 
herent good  sense  to  be  able  to  stay,  is  of  God, 


Time  as  a  Trinity  of  Past,  Pres- 
ent, AND  Future. 
French  miniature.    Fourteenth  century.'* 


The  Divine  Trinity. 
From  Citi'dc  Dictt,  a  folio  MS.  in  the 
Bibliotheque  de  Sainte  Genevieve.* 


Satan  may  be  the  representative  of  rebellion ;  God 
symbolises  liberty.  Satan  ma3-  promise  independence 
by  a  call  to  arms  against  rules  and  order ;  God  gives  in- 
dependence by  self-control  and  discretion.  vSatan  is  sham 
freedom,  in  God  we  find  true  freedom.  Satan  is  an  in- 
dispensable phase  in  the  manifestation  of  God;  he  is  the 
protest  against  God's  dispensation  as  a  yoke  and  an  im- 

*Diciron,  hoii.  Ch>\.  pages  25  and  64 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  rkoBLICM. 


473 


position,  and  thus  revolting^  against  the  law  prepares  the 
way  to  the  covenant  of  love  and  spontaneoiLs  g^ood-will. 

We  must  only  learn  that  independence  cannot  be 
gained  by  a  rebellion  against  the  constitution  of  the  uni- 
verse, or  by  inverting  the  laws  of  life  and  evolution,  but 
by  comprehending  them  and  adapting  ourselves  to  the 
world  in  which  we  live.  By  a  recognition  of  the  truth, 
which  must  be  acquired  by  painstaking  investigation  and 
by  accepting  the  truth  as  our  maxim   of   conduct,   man 


Italian  Trinity. 

Of  the  fifteenth  century. 

(Didron  ) 


Satanic  Trinity. 
French  miniature  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.     (Didron  ) 


rises  to  the  height  of  self-determination,  of  dominion 
over  the  forces  of  nature,  of  freedom.  It  is  the  truth 
that  makes  us  free. 

So  long  as  the  truth  is  something  foreign  to  us,  we 
speak  of  obedience  to  the  truth ;  but  when  we  have 
learned  to  identify  ourselves  with  truth,  the  moral  ought 
ceases  to  be  a  tyrannical  power  above  us,  and  we  feel 
ourselves  as  its  representatives ;  it  changes  into  aspira- 
tions in  us.     True  religion  is  love  of  truth,  and  being 


474 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


such  it  will  not  end  in  a  feeling  of  dependence,  but  reap 
the  fruit  of  truth,  which  is  liberty,  freedom,  independence. 


The  Dci'i /-Conception  in  Its  Relation  to  the  God- 
Conception. 

The  evolution   of   the  conception   of  evil  is  by  no 
means  an  unimportant  chapter  in  the  history  of  religion, 


The  Trinity.  The  Trinity  of  Evil. 

From  a  painted  window  of  the  sixteenth  From   a   French  MS.  of  the  fifteenth 

century  in   the  church  of  Notre  Dame  century,   preserved   in    the   Biblio- 

at  Chalons,  France.  (Didron,  Ann.  II.,  theque  Royale  at  Paris.      (Didron, 

page  32.)  IcotiOf;riipli\\  II.,  p.  23  ) 

for  the  idea  a  man  has  of  Satan  is  characteristic  of  his 
mental  and  moral  nature. 

While  the  Bible  declares  that  man   is  made  in   the 
image  of  God,  anthropologists  say  that  men  make  their 


THE  I'HILOSOPHICAI,  PRuHLKM. 


475 


gods  after  their  own  image  :  and  the  trutli  is  that  every 
God-conception  is  characteristic  of  tlie  man  who  liolds  it. 
It  has  been  said :  I  will  tell  you  who  3'on  are  when  you 
tell  me  what  your  conception  of  God  is. 


The  Three-Headed  Serapis. 
With   the  head  of  a  lion  in  the  centre,  of 
a  dog  on  the  right,  and  of  a  wolf  on  the 
left  side  *     (From   Bartoli's  Liicernac 
Vcterinn  Sef'tdchrati-s,  \\-,  fig.  7.) 


AziEL,  THE  Guardian  of  Hidden 

Treasures. 

From  Francisci's  Proteus  infer- 

uah's. 


But  the  same  observation  holds  good  as  to  the  con- 
ception of  the  Devil,  and  we  might  as  well  say,  "I  will 
tell  you  who  you  are  when  you  tell  me  what  3'onr  con- 
ception of  the  Devil  is." 

*This  conception  of  Serapis  reminds  one  of  Cerberus,  and  Manobius  (Sa!.,  I. 
20)  actually  says  that  the  heads  of  Cerberus  are  those  of  a  lion,  a  wolf,  and  a  dog. 
See  Menzel,    Vorchr.   Unsterbliclikcitslchn-,  H.,  p    5 


476 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


God  Supporting  the  World.     (By  Buonamico  Buffamalco.)* 
Fresco  in  the  Clampo  Santo  of  Pisa. 

*  This  picture  is  the  embodiment  of  the  Christian  world-conception  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  A  sonnet  accompanies  the  fresco  and  explains  that  nine  choirs  of 
angels  surround  the  world,  in  whose  inner  circles  the  constellations  roll  round  the 
earth  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the  universe. 


THK  rHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM. 


477 


There  is  a  similarity  between  our  conceptions  of 
good  and  evil  which  cannot  be  accidental,  for  it  is  natural 
that  all  our  thoughts  should  possess  a  certain  family  like- 
ness. Your  idea  of  the  Devil  is  your  best  interpretation 
of  your  idea  of  God.  It  will  be  interesting  to  compare 
one  of  the  most  famous  representations  of  God,  holding 
the  universe  in  his  hands  with  the  pictures  of  Mara,  the 
Buddhist  Satan  with  the  world-wheel  in  his  clutches. 
(See  pages  119,  121,  123.) 

This  similarity  can  be  proved  from  history. 

The  Trinity  conception  of  Satan  is  as  old  as  the 
Trinity  conception  of  God. 
As  we  have  Trinities  among 
the  Pagan  deities,  for  in- 
stance among  the  Greeks, 
the  three-headed  Hecuba ; 
so  we  have  three-headed 
monsters  as  for  instance, 
the  three-headed  Cerberus ; 
and  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tian art  a  similar  parallel- 
ism obtains  between  God- 
representations  and  Devil-representations.  The  idea  of 
representing  the  divine  trinity  as  a  person  having  three 
faces  may  have  originated  in  a  modification  of  the  two- 
headed  Janus. 

Professor  Kraus  says  concerning  the  trinitarian  de- 
mons of  Christianity  : 

"  The  diabolical  dragon  is  described  as  a  three-headed  monster 
(probably  in  recollection  of  Cerberus)  in  the  Apocryphal  Gospel  of 

*This  picture  is  ,i  part  of  the  representation  of  Hades,  given  on  page  194. 


Hercules  with  Cerberus.* 
From  a  vase  found  in  Alta  mura. 


478  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

Nicodemiis,  and  in  the  Good  Friday  Sermon  of  Eusebius  of  Alexan- 
dria, who  addresses  the  Devil  'Three-headed  Beelzebul'  {jpiKk^aXf. 
BeeK^ePovX.).  The  idea  of  the  Demon  as  a  serpent  with  the  head  of 
a  woman  appears  not  earlier  than  the  Middle  Ages,  in  Bede,  from 
whom  it  is  quoted  by  Vincent  de  Beauvais." 

Dante  describes  the  three-faced  Satan  in  these  lines : 

"  Oh,  wliat  a  sight  ! 
How  passing  strange  it  seemed  when  I  did  spy 
Upon  his  head  three  faces:  one  in  front 
Of  hue  vermilion,  the  other  two  with  this 
Midway  each  shoulder  joined  and  at  the  crest ; 
The  right  'twixt  wan  and  yellow  seemed  ;  the  left 
To  look  on,  such  as  come  from  whence  old  Nile 
Stoops  to  the  lowlands.      Under  each  shot  forth 
Two  mighty  wings,  enormous  as  became 
A  bird  so  vast.     No  plumes  had  they. 
But  were  in  texture  like  a  bat,  and  these 
He  flapped  in  the  air,  that  from  him  issued  still 
Three  winds  wherewith  Cocytus  to  it.s  depth 
Was  frozen.      At  six  eyes  he  wept  :  the  tears 
Adown  three  chins  distilled  with  blood3'  foam. 
At  ever}'  mouth  his  teeth  a  sinner  champed, 
Bruised  as  with  ponderous  engine  ;  so  that  .three 
Were  in  this  guise  tormented."     {Hel/.     Canto  xxxiv.) 

As  according  to  Christian  doctrine  God  is  actualised 
in  the  God-man,  so  Satan  in  his  turn  is  represented  as 
the  Antichrist  and  is  pictured  as  a  human  caricature  full 
of  ugliness  and  wickedness.     Professor  Kraus  continues: 

"Simultaneously  with  the  conception  of  the  Devil  as  a  dragon 
are  found  in  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  notions  of  him  as  an  awful 
negro  (a  Moor  or  Ethiopian).  The  same  views  are  found  in  Au- 
gustine, Gregory  the  Great,  and  the  Apocryphal  Acts  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew.     In   the  latter,  the   idea  is  so  far  developed  as  to  repre- 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLKM. 


479 


sent  the  Devil  as  the  archetype  of  deformity  :  he  becomes  a  negro 

with  a  dog's  snout,  covered  with  hair  down  to  liis  toes,  with  ylow- 


St.  Anthony  Assaulted  bv  Devils. 
(After  Schoengauer's  copper  engraving,  1420-1499.) 

ing  eyes,  fire  in   his  mouth,  smoke  issuing  from  his  nostrils,  and 
with  the  wings  of  a  bat.      We  see  that  this  pleasant  description  of 


480 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


the  Evil  One,  which  perhaps  is  based  on  Job  xli.  9  et  seq. ,  con- 
tains all  the  elements  of  the  grotesque  conception  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  The}'  are  found  also  in  the  l^ila  S.  Antonii  where  also  the 
horns  of  the  Devil  are  mentioned." 

Compare  for  instance  Milton's  Satan  with  Goethe's 
Mephistopheles !     The  one  heroic  like  the  English   na- 


\ 


The  Goon  Lord  and  the  Devil. 
(In  Goethe's  Faust,  by  Franz  Simm.) 

tion,  a  Protestant,  a  rebel,  a  dissenter,  a  subjectivist  (see 
page  351  ff.) ,  the  other  a  sage,  a  scholar,  a  philosopher, 
like  a  German  poet.  Goetlie's  Mephistopheles  is  not  as 
grand  as  Milton's  Satan,  but  he  is  in  his  way  not  less 
interesting,  for  he  is  more  ingenious,  more  learned,  more 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  481 

poetical.  He  is  a  philosophical  principle,  being  the  spirit 
of  criticism  ;  and  as  such  he  plays  an  important  part  in 
the  economy  of  nature. 

Mephistopheles  characterises  himself  in  these  words : 

"I  am  the  spirit  that  denies! 
And  justly  so:   For  all  things  from  the  void 
Called  forth,  deserve  to  be  destroj'ed. 
T'were  better,  then,  were  nought  created. 
Thus,  all  which  you  as  sin  have  rated, — 
Destruction, — aught  with  evil  blent, — 
That  is  my  proper  element." 

And  what  a  sympathy  exists  between  Mephistoph- 
eles, the  spirit  of  criticism  and  the  dignified  author  of  the 
Universe.     The  Lord  says  in  the  Prelude  to  Faust: 

"In  self-indulgence  man  finds  soon  his  level 
He  seeks  repose  and  ease  ;   and  stops  to  grow. 
Gladly  on  him  the  comrade  I'll  bestow 
Who  will  provoke  and  must  create  as  Devil." 

As  God,  now  and  then,  needs  the  Devil,  so  the  Devil 
is  anxious  from  time  to  time  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
good  Lord.  After  the  heaven  is  closed  Mephistopheles 
remains  alone  on  the  stage  and  says : 

"At  times  the  Ancient  Gent  I  like  to  see. 
Keep  on  good  terms  with  him  and  am  most  civil." 

Hobbling  away,  he  stops  before  leaving  the  stage 
and  turning  to  the  audience  adds : 

"  'Tis  truly  fine  of  such  a  grand  grandee 
So  humanly  to  gossip  with  the  Devil." 


482  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Coj/c/iisioH. 

Evil  personified  appears  at  first  sight  repulsive.  But 
the  more  we  studj-  the  personality  of  the  Devil,  the  more 
fascinating  it  becomes.  In  the  beginning  of  existence 
the  Evil  One  is  the  embodiment  of  everything  unpleas- 
ant, then  of  everything  bad,  evil,  and  immoral.  He  is 
hatred,  destruction,  and  annihilation  incarnate,  and  as 
such  he  is  the  adversary  of  existence,  of  the  Creator,  of 
God.  The  Devil  is  the  rebel  of  the  cosmos,  the  indepen- 
dent in  the  empire  of  a  tyrant,  the  opposition  to  uniform- 
ity, the  dissonance  in  universal  harmony,  the  exception 
to  the  rule,  the  particular  in  the  universal,  the  unforeseen 
chance  that  breaks  the  law ;  he  is  the  individualising 
tendency,  the  craving  for  originality,  which  bodily  upsets 
the  ordinances  of  God  that  enforce  a  definite  kind  of  con- 
duct ;  he  overturns  the  monotony  that  would  permeate 
the  cosmic  .spheres  if  every  atom  in  unconscious  right- 
eousness and  with  pious  obedience  slavishly  followed  a 
generally  prescribed  course. 

The  ingenuous  question,  "Why  does  not  God  kill 
the  Devil?"  is  comical  enough,  because  we  feel  instinc- 
tively that  it  is  impossible.  I  know  of  a  good  old  lad^- 
who  prayed  daily  with  great  fervor  and  piety  that  God 
might  have  mercy  on  the  Devil  and  save  him.  Think  of  it 
closely,  and  this  attitude  is  touching!  How  many  great 
theologians  have  seriously  discussed  the  problem  w-hether 
the  Devil  could  be  saved.  Like  that  good  old  lad}-, 
they  were  so  engrossed  in  the  literal  belief  of  their  myth- 
olog3^  that   they  did  not  see  that  the  problem   implied  a 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  483 

contradiction.  For  God  and  Devil  are  relative  terms, 
and  God  would  cease  to  be  God  if  there  were  no  Devil. 

The  universe  is  such  that  the  evolution  of  a  higher 
life  is  possible  only  through  great  strain.  The  evolution 
of  the  warm  glow  of  a  soul  out  of  the  cold  clay  of  the 
earth,  of  moral  aspirations  out  of  the  fierce  hatred  that  an- 
imates the  struggle  for  existence,  of  intelligence,  thought 
and  foresight  out  of  the  brute  indifference  of  that  un- 
thinking something  which  we  call  matter  in  motion,  is 
due  to  extraordinary  exertions ;  it  is  the  product  of  work 
performed  by  the  expenditure  of  enormous  energy,  and 
constant  efforts  are  required  merely  to  preserve  the  treas- 
ures already  won.  Difficulties  to  be  overcome  are  called 
in  the  terminology  of  mechanics  "the  power  of  resist- 
ance," and  this  power  of  resistance  is,  closely  considered, 
an  essential  and  even  a  beneficial  factor  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  universe. 

If  there  were  no  power  of  resistance,  if  no  efforts 
were  needed  to  reach  any  end  desired,  if  the  world  were 
pleasure  and  goodness  throughout,  we  should  have  no 
evolution,  no  progress,  no  ideals ;  for  all  spheres  of  ex- 
istence would  float  in  one  universal  ocean  of  bliss,  and  all 
things  would  be  intoxicated  with  heavenly  delight. 

Pain  produces  the  want  of  something  better,  and  de- 
ficiencies arouse  the  desire  for  improvement.  If  the  feel- 
ing subs^'nce  of  moners  had  all  their  wants  satisfied 
without  further  exertion,  man  would  never  have  risen  out 
of  the  bythos  of  amseboid  existence,  and  if  the  man  of 
to-day  lived  in  a  Schlaraffia,  he  would  not  trouble  about 
new  inventions,  progress,  or  any  amelioration;  he  would 
simply  live  on  in  unthinking  enjoyment.     There  would 


484  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

be  no  need  of  making  any  effort,  no  need  of  strnggling 
against  evils,  no  need  of  virtue,  no  need  of  working  out 
our  salvation.  There  would  be  no  badness,  but  there 
would  be  no  goodness,  either.  All  existence  would  be 
soaked  with  moral  indifference. 

Good  is  good  only  because  there  is  evil,  and  God  is 
God  because  there  is  a  Devil. 

As  evil  is  not  a  mere  negation,  so  the  figure  of  Satan 
in  religion  is  not  an  idle  fancy.     Goethe  says: 

■    "  Ich  kann  mich  nicht  bereden  lassen, 
Macht  mir  den  Teufel  nur  nicht  klein: 
Ein  Kerl,  den  alle  Menschen  hassen, 
Der  muss  was  sein  !" 

["  You  have  the  Devil  underrated. 
I  cannot  yet  persuaded  be  ! 
A  fellow  who  is  all-behated, 
Must  something  be."] 

Now,  let  us  look  at  the  mythical  figure  of  Satan  as 
represented  in  theology,  folklore,  and  poetry.  Is  he  not 
really  a  most  interesting  man?  Indeed,  in  spite  of  being 
a  representative  of  all  kinds  of  crimes,  he  possesses  many 
redeeming  features  so  as  to  be  great  and  noble.  Accord- 
ing to  the  account  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis,  Satan 
is  the  father  of  science,  for  he  induced  Eve  to  make 
Adam  taste  of  the  fruit  of  knowledge,  and  the  Ophites,  a 
gnostic  sect,  worshipped  the  serpent  for  that  reason. 
Satan  produces  the  unrest  in  society,  which,  in  spite  of 
many  inconveniences,  makes  the  world  move  onward  and 
forward;  he  is  the  patron  of  progress,  investigation,  and 
invention.  Giordano  Bruno,  Galileo,  and  other  men  of 
science  were  regarded  as  his  offspring  and  persecuted  on 


The  Devil  in  the  Campo  Santo  (Pisa).* 
*  Compare  p.  164. 


486 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


his  account  by  the  Church.  And  when  we  glance  over 
the  records  of  the  Devil-contracts,  we  learn  to  have  re- 
spect for  the  old  gentleman.  Milton's  Satan  is  a  grand 
character,  a  noble-souled  rebel,  who  would  rather  un- 
dergo an  eternity  of  torture  than  suffer  humiliation. 

Consider  but  the  fact  that,  taking  the  statement  of 
his  adversaries  alone,  the  Devil  is  the  most  trustworthy 
person  in  existence.  He  has  been  cheated  by  innumer- 
able sinners,  saints,  angels,  and  (according  to  various 
old  Church  legends)  even  by  the  good  Lord  himself ;   and 

3'et  he  has  never  been  found  want- 
ing in  the  literal  and  punctilious 
fulfilment  of  all  his  promises ; 
and  all  the  bad  experiences  he 
has  had  in  the  course  of  millen- 
niums have  not  in  the  least  low- 
ered his  character.  His  mere 
word  is  honored  as  the  holiest 
oath,  or  as  the  best  signature 
verified  with  seals  and  legal  wit- 
nesses. The  instances  are  rare  in 
which  it  is  known  that  persons 
with  whom  he  has  had  business  transactions  have  re- 
quested him  to  sign  a  contract,  to  give  a  pledge,  or  to 
show  any  proof  that  he  would  honestly  abide  by  his  word ; 
his  honesty  was  never  doubted  by  anybody.  And  mind 
you,  it  is  not  the  Devil  who  boasts  of  his  integrity,  but 
this  is  the  conclusion  at  which  we  arrive  from  the  evi- 
dences adduced  by  his  enemies. 

Our  sympathy  for  this  martyr  of  honest  conduct,  the 

*The  inscription  reads  "Seel  Lucifer  matre  (i.  e.,  maistre)  dabisme  d'enfer.' 


Seal  of  Satan. 
Probably  used  in  mystic  plays  of 
the  fifteenth  century.     (From 
Didron,  Chr.  Iconography.*) 


THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  PROBLEM.  487 

dupe  of  God  and  man,  grows  wlien  we  consider  our  own 
nature  and  relation  to  his  Satanic  majesty.  With  our 
hands  upon  our  hearts,  must  we  not  confess  that  every 
one  of  us,  in  spite  of  man's  boastful  claim  of  a  likeness 
to  God,  has  some  trait  or  other  that  makes  him  kin  to 
the  Devil?  I  do  not  mean  here  to  make  reference  to 
actual  sin  or  grievous  transgressions,  but  to  things  of 
which  we  scarcely  think  of  repenting.  Did  we  never  in 
an  hour  of  humor  laugh  at  our  neighbor?  Did  we  never 
joke  at  the  cost  of  somebody  else?  Did  we  never  bull- 
doze, tease,  or  tantalise  our  very  best  friends?  Did  we 
never  enjoy  the  awkward  situation  in  which  some  poor 
innocent  had  been  cauglit?  And  why  should  we  not?  If 
we  took  away  from  life  its  satire,  jokes,  and  other  "  devil- 
tries," it  would  lose  part  of  its  most  fragrant  zest,  and  if 
we  constructed  a  man  consisting  of  virtues  only,  would 
not  that  fellow  be  the  most  unbearable  bore  in  the  world, 
wearisome  beyond  description?  For  it  is  a  sprinkling  of 
petty  vices  that  makes  even  a  great  man  human.  A 
mere  ethical  machine  would  neither  be  attractive  nor 
arouse  our  sympathies. 

The  Devil  is  the  father  of  all  misunderstood  gen- 
iuses. It  is  he  who  induces  us  to  try  new  paths ;  he  be- 
gets originality  of  thought  and  deed.  He  tempts  us  to 
venture  out  boldly  into  unknown  seas  for  the  discovery  of 
new  ways  to  the  wealth  of  distant  Indias.  He  makes  us 
dream  of  and  hope  for  more  prosperity  and  greater  happi- 
ness. He  is  the  spirit  of  discontent  that  embitters  our 
hearts,  but  in  the  end  often  leads  to  a  better  arrangement 
of  affairs.  In  truth,  he  is  a  very  useful  servant  of  the 
Almighty,  and  all  the  heinous  features  of  his  character 


488  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 

disappear  when  we  consider  the  fact  that  he  is  necessary 
in  the  economy  of  nature  as  a  wholesome  stimulant  to 
action  and  as  the  power  of  resistance  that  evokes  the  no- 
blest efforts  of  living  beings. 

God,  being  the  All  in  All,  regarded  as  the  ultimate 
authority  for  conduct,  is  neither  evil  itself  nor  goodness 
itself;  but,  nevertheless,  he  is  in  the  good,  and  he  is  in 
the  evil.  He  encompasses  good  and  evil.  God  is  in  the 
growth  and  in  the  decay ;  he  reveals  himself  in  life,  and 
he  reveals  himself  in  death.  He  will  be  found  in  the 
storm,  he  will  be  found  in  the  calm.  He  lives  in  good 
aspirations  and  in  the  bliss  resting  upon  moral  endeav- 
ors ;  but  he  lives  also  in  the  visitations  that  follow  evil 
actions.  It  is  his  voice  that  speaks  in  the  guilty  con- 
science, and  he,  too,  is  in  the  curse  of  sin,  and  in  this 
sense  he  is  present  even  in  the  evil  itself.  Even  evil, 
temptation,  and  sin  elicit  the  good:  they  teach  man. 
He  who  has  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  and  a  mind  to  per- 
ceive, will  read  a  lesson  out  of  the  very  existence  of  evil, 
a  lesson  which,  in  spite  of  the  terrors  it  inspires,  is  cer- 
tainly not  less  impressive,  nor  less  divine,  than  the  sub- 
limity of  a  holy  life ;  and  thus  it  becomes  apparent  that 
the  existence  of  Satan  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  divine  dis- 
pensation. Indeed  we  must  grant  that  the  Devil  is  the 
most  indispensable  and  faithful  helpmate  of  God.  To 
speak  mystically,  even  the  existence  of  the  Devil  is  filled 
with  the  presence  of  God. 


INDEX. 


Abode  of  Bliss,  24,  26. 

Abraham,  yr,  159. 

Abraham  a  Sancta-Clara,  386. 

Abraxas,  226 

Accad,  29-49. 

Adam,  154. 

Adamatu,  29 

Adam  Kadmon,  139. 

Aeon,  225. 

yEschylus,  210  et  seq  ,  217 

^sculapius.  225. 

^sop's  fable,  the  wolf  in.  459  et  seq. 

Agathodjemon,  227. 

Agrippa  ab  Nettesheim,  274  et  seq  .  419 

Ahriman  (Angro  Mainyush),  53,  56,  73, 

351- 
Ahura,  (see  also  Mazda),   52,  53,  54,  59, 

60,  62,  73. 
Ajanta,  caves  of,  120. 
Albertus  Magnus,  419. 
Albigenses,  309. 
Albrecht,  Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  333  et 

seq. 
Alciatus,  371. 

Alexander  the  Great,  137,  211. 
Alexander  III.,  Pope,  308. 
Amemit,  23. 

Amenti,  beast  of,  20,  32,  48,  igg. 
America,  witch-prosecution  in,  367. 
Amesha  Spenta,  64. 
Amset,  20. 

Ancient  Egypt,  15-28 
Andromeda  and  Perseus,  12,  205. 
Animism,  i,  2. 
Anthony,    St.,    239,    479;     fighting    the 

Devil,   236. 


Anti-Christ,  166  :  the  Pope  the,  342. 
Atilipaliis  maleficioyum,  325. 
Anubis,  the  jackal-headed,  22. 
Apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testament,  140  et 

seq.,    156. 
Apollo,  the  Hindu,  91. 
ApoUonius,  218. 
ApoUonius  of  Tyana,  231. 
Apophis,  20,  27. 
Apulejus,  282 

Arali,  the  Babylonian  hell,  43. 
Arendsee,  execution  at,  366. 
Asas,  245,  246. 
Asmodi,  141,  142. 
Asuras,  103. 
Atheism,  2,  3. 
Atonement,  vicarious,  261. 
Augustine,  St.,  26S,  282. 
Aurelian,  Father,  400. 
Aurelius,  Marcus,  230 
Avatars,  77  et  seq. 
Azazel,  65  et  seq.,  70,  351. 

Baal  Melkarth,  209. 
Baal  priests,  267. 
Babel,  31,  32 
Bacon,  Roger,  422. 
Balsamo,  Giuseppe,  394. 
Baptism,  221. 
Baur,  Father  Gilbert,  387. 
Beelzebub,  71,  166. 
Bekker,  Balthasar,  380,  381,  383. 
Bela,  410. 

Bellerophon,  203,  20S. 
Bel-Merodach   (see  also   Merodach),  37 
et  seq.,  40,  41,  445. 


490 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Beowulf,  250. 

Bernauer,  Agnes,  333  et  seq. 

Bernhard  of  Clairvaux,  327. 

Berosus.  31. 

Bhutas,  103, 

Binsfeld,  Peter,  360,  374. 

Bodhi,  147. 

Bodin,  Jean,   360. 

Bohme,  Jacob,  150  et  seq. 

Bonaparte,  433. 

Book  of  the  Dead,  19. 

Brahm,  76. 

Brahma,   76,  77,  78. 

Brahmanism  and  Hinduism,  74-103. 

Broussart.  Inquisitor  Pierre  le,  320,  321. 

Buddha,  129. 

Buddhism,  104-136. 

Buddhist  Wheel  of  Life,  386. 

Budge,  E.  A.  Wallis,  34,  42. 

Bunyan,  412. 

Burnouf,  92. 

Burying  alive,  67,  251  et  seq. 

CsEsarius  of  Heisterbach,  283,  284,  288. 

Cagliostro,  Count,  394. 

Callimachus,  216. 

Calvin,  359. 

Calvinism,  a  Catholic  burlesque,  340. 

Cannibalism,  13. 

Cathari,  306. 

Caussin,  Father,  385. 

Ceylon,  85. 

Charles  IV.,  315. 

Charles  VI.,  316. 

Cherubim,  33. 

Chicago,  436. 

Chimaera,   202,  208,  209. 

Chodowiecki,  Daniel,   392. 

Christ,  Jesus,  210;   His  second   advent, 

161-165,  168  ;  His  descent  into  Hell, 

173   et   seq.;    temptations  of,    213;  a 

better  Saviour,  217. 
Christianity,    early,    157-192  ;    Teuton- 

ised,  245  et  seq. 
Christians   (Serapis   worshippers),    229 ; 

the  early  healing  of,  265. 
Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden,  379. 
Confections,  116. 
Confucius,  129. 
Conrad  of  Marburg,  310,  313,  403. 


Constantine,  279. 
Conybeare,  Mr.  F.  C,  217. 
Covetousness,  413. 
Cross,  210. 
Crucify,   218. 
Crusades,  418. 
Cuthbert,  St.,  256,  257. 
Cyrus,  King,  58. 

i    Dagobert,  412. 

Dale,  Anton  van,   380. 

Danaides,  197  et  seq. 

Daniel,  book  of,  142,  166. 

Dante,  478;  his  Divina  Comedia,  189; 
ice  hell,   247,  248. 

Darmesteter,  James,  50,  56.  57. 

Daub,  395. 

Dawn  of  a  new  era,  the,  137-156. 

Day  of  judgment,  167. 

Dead,  Homer  on  the  land  of  the,  195  et 
seq. 

Deluge,  32,  78. 

Demonology  of  Northern  Europe,  the, 
241-261 . 

Demons,  Assyrian,  44  et  seq. 

Denys,  St.,  412. 

Dernburg,  witches  at,  360-362. 

Devil,  280,  282  ;  Devil-worship,  6-14, 
63  ;  as  a  Buddhist  monk,  131  et  seq.; 
outwitted,  253  et  seq.;  Devil's  bridge, 
259,  260 ;  his  prime,  262-305  ;  in  the 
Passion  plays,  28S  ;  Milton's,  351  ;  in 
folklore,  verse,  and  fable,  407-438 ; 
Devil-stories,  408  et  seq.;  Devil-con- 
tracts, 414  et  seq.;  Devil's  Island, 
436;  God  compared  with,  477  et  seq.; 
Goethe's  480,  484  ;  honesty  of  the, 
486  ;  the  helpmate  of  God,  the,  488. 

Dhammapada,  106  et  seq. 

Didron,  413,  468 

Dillmann,  Dr.  A.,  145. 

Diodorus,  72. 

Dionysius,   280. 

Dionysus    203,  225. 

Dis,  trinity  of,  249. 

Disciples,  138. 

Dives,  159  et  seq 

Divining  rod,  294. 

Dominic.  Castilian,  309. 

Dominicans,  309  et  seq.;  inquisitors, 360. 


INDEX. 


491 


Doomsday,  185,  244. 

Drake,  367. 

Driiten-Zeitung,   377. 

Dualism,  i  ;   Plato's,    215  ;  Persian,  50- 

64  ;  Zoroaster's,  63 
Dunstan,  St.,  255,  256, 

Ebeling,  Fr.  W.,  250,  288. 

Ebionites,  139  et  seq. 

Edelin,  William  von,  318. 

Eden,  31. 

Edfu,  inscription  of,   ig. 

Eggelino,  411. 

Egypt,  Ancient,  15-28. 

Eichstadt,  Leopold  von,  400. 

Elijah,  267. 

Elizabeth  of  Thuringia,   313. 

Elsenreiter,  Christian,  293. 

Elysion,   199. 

Emma,  the  judge,  129,  130. 

Endor,  Witch  of,  68. 

Enoch,    78 ;    the   abysmal    being,    142  ; 

book  of,  143,  145. 
Epictetus,  206,  211,  230. 
Er,  the  tale  of,  213  et  seq. 
Erasmus,  370  et  seq. 
Erastus,  Dr.  Thomas,  360. 
Erhard,  398. 
Ernest,    Duke   of  Wurtemberg,    333    et 

seq. 
Eschatology,  Jewish-Christian,  i68. 
Esdras,  two  books  of,  142. 
Essenes,  139  et  seq. 
Ethics  of  struggle,  241. 
Eucharist  of  Mithras,  220. 
Eugene,  IV.,  Pope,  317. 
Euphrates,  30. 
Eusebius,  228. 
Eustochia,  the  virgin,  409. 
Evans,  E.  P.,  401. 

Evil,  as  a  philosophical  problem,   439- 
488 :    its  mythology,    439   et   seq. ;    is 
positive,  452  et  seq. 
Evil  One,  pedigree  of  the.  445. 
Execution  at  Arendsee,  366. 
Exorcism,  279  et  seq.,  400. 
Eymerich,  N.,  316. 
Ezra,  58. 

Faust,  414,  419-431. 
Faustus,  Dr.  Johannes,  418. 


Fear  of  evil,  religion  the,  14. 

Fenris  wolf,  243,  245. 

Feyerabend,    Sigmund,   345  ;   his  'I'hea- 

trum  Diabolorjtm.  345,  346. 
Floegel,  250,  288. 
Foley,  Caroline,  iig. 
Folklore,  the  Devil  in,  407  et  seq. 
Folk  song,  Slavonian,  387. 
Freedom,  472. 
Funeral  genii,  20. 

Gams  of  Ratisbnn,  400. 

Gassner,  Pater  |ohn  Joseph,  392  et  seq. 

Gauss,  Mr.  E    F    L.,  254. 

Gehenna,  216, 

Gensfleisch  vom  Gutenberg,   418. 

George,  St.,  208,  236,  237,  239. 

Gerbert,  417,  418. 

Giants,  249  et  seq. 

Gigantomachy,  199. 

Glanville,  380. 

Gnostics,  138,  147. 

Gnostic  Trinity  idea,  the,  145. 

Goat-spirits,  6g. 

God,  defined,  3  et  seq.;  of  goodness, 
139,  227  ;  as  the  emperor,  191  ;  the 
all-good,  232;  idea,  the,  461  et  seq  ; 
compared  with  the  Devil,  477  et  seq. 

Goethe,  299;  his  Faust,  430  et  seq,;  his 
Devil,  480,  484. 

Gondi,  Cardinal  De,  362. 

Good  and  Evil  as  Religious  Ideas,  1-5 

Good,  God  the  all-,  232. 

Goodness,  standard  of,  446  et  seq. 

Gorris,  398. 

Grahas,  103, 

Grandier  Urban,  363  et  seq. 

Gregory  VII.,  309. 

Gregory  IX.,  309,  310,  314,  400. 

Gregory  the  Great,  280,  418, 

Grendel,  250. 

Grimm,  251,  252. 

Griinbeck,   372. 

Griinwedel,  Alfred,    113. 

Guimet  Musee  of  Paris,  135. 

Gunkel,  445. 

Guyau,  M.,  2. 

Haas,  Dr.,  398. 

Hades,  194,  198,  216;   Plutarch  on,  217. 


492 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Haiti,  lo. 

Hanuman,  82,  85,  86. 

Hapi.  20. 

HariHara,  100,  loi. 

Hase.  395. 

Healers,  138. 

Healing  of  the  early  Christians,  265. 

Heart,  the  Devil   in   the  human,  354  et 

seq  ;  weighing  the,  21. 
Heaven  according  to  the  revelation  of 

St.  Peter,  179  et  seq. 
Hefele,  Bishop,  400. 
Heine,  Heinrich,  435. 
Hal,  242,  243,  245. 

Hell,  descent  into.  173  etseq.;  accord- 
ing to  the  revelation  of  St.  Peter,  179 
etseq.;  in  the  /'istis  Sophia,  183  et 
seq.;  Plato  on,  213  etseq.;  Milton's, 
352 ;  descriptions  of,  385  et  seq. ; 
wheel  of,  385 
Helpmate  of  God.  the  Devil  (he,  488. 
Hengstenberg.  397, 

Henry  VIII.  of  England,  359. 
Hensel,  Katharine,  372. 

Hephajstus,  225. 

Hercules,  203,  210,  211  ;  as  the  saviour, 
206. 

Heretics  outlawed,  306  et  seq. 

Hermes,  225,  230. 

Hesiod,  200. 

Hilarion,  St.,  408. 

Hinduism  and  Brahmanism,  74-103 

Hittites,  18. 

Holbein,  Hans,  347. 

Holy  Office,  309. 

Holy  ones,  138. 

Homer,  198  ;  on   the  land  of  the  dead, 
195  et  seq. 

Honesty  of  the  Devil,  486. 

Hopkins,  Matthias,   379. 

Her,   the  hawk-headed,   22,   26 ;    the 
child-god,  28. 

Horst,  377. 

I/ortus  Dcliciarum,  339. 

Hudibras,  379. 

Hugo  de  Beniols,  314. 

Huitzilopochtli,  10. 

Human  sacrifices,  10,  12,  13. 

Hunt,  of  Somerset,  380. 

Hyksos,  17,  19. 


lao-Abraxas,  222,  226,  227. 

Ice  hell,  Dante's,  247,  248. 

Immortality,  belief  in,  48. 

Incarnations,  77  et  seq. 

India,  74. 

Indian  reformers,  268. 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,    309,  398,  400,  403. 

Innocent  VIII.,  Pope,  321,  322. 

Inquisition,  the,  306-337. 

"  Inquisitor,"  the  title,  308. 

Institoris,  Heinrich,  321. 

Iphigenia,  13. 

Irenaeus,  233. 

Isaac,  13. 

Israel,  65-75. 

Ixion,  197  et  seq. 

Izdubar,  32. 

Izedis,  63,  64. 

Jackson,   Prof.  A.  V.  Williams,    51,   62. 

Jagannath,  92. 

Jaquerius,  J.  Nicolaus,  318. 

Jephthah,  12. 

Jerome,  St.,  308,  409. 

Jesus  Christ,  210,  240. 

Job,  Book  of,  71. 

Jocanna,  10. 

John    the   Divine,    St.,    167,    i6g,    170; 

revelation  of,  201. 
John  XXII.,  Pope.  400. 
Joseph  II.,  Emperor,  393. 
Judgment-day,  57,  167. 
Judgment,  Last,  164. 
Julian  the  Apostate,  231. 
Justinus  Martyr,  266. 

Kali,   97,   98,    128  ;  mKha'  sGroraa,  the 

Tibetan,  99,  128. 
Kant,  394. 
Kebhsnauf,  20. 
Kepler,  296. 
King,  Mr.  W.  C,  226. 
Kircher,  Athanasius,  390  et  seq. 
Kitchin,  the  Rev.  G.  W.,  399. 
Klein,  Dionysius,  432. 
Kongo,  the  sheriff,  129,  130. 
Konig,  327,  328,  332. 
Koran,  149. 
Kraus,  Franz  Xaver,  443,  477  et  seq. 


INDEX. 


493 


Krause,  Dr    Ernst  (Carus  Sterne),  246, 

247,  249. 
Krishna,  86  at  seq. 

Labarthe,   Lady  of,  314. 

Labaruni,  235. 

Lactantius,  Peter,  365. 

Lakshmi,  78,  80. 

Lanka,   85. 

Lao-Tsze,  129. 

La  Salle,  General,  384. 

Laubordemont,  365 

Lavater,  392. 

Law-code  of  the  Lombards,  280. 

Layard,  62 

Laymann,  Paul,  374. 

Lazarus,  160,  161. 

Lazarus,  Emma,  435 

Leander's  Mdrchen,  105. 

Lenormant,  43  et  seq.,  55,  56,  69. 

Leo  X.,  Pope,  403. 

Leo  XIII.,  Pope,  401. 

Leo  the  Great,  308. 

Leptinae,  Synod  of,  280. 

Lesage,  435. 

Leviathan.  142. 

Life,  the  tree  of,  36;  the  wheel  of,  118 
et  seq.,  125;  the  wheel  of.  in  the  New 
Testament.  127  ;  an  Indian  wheel  of, 
119;  a  Tibetan  wheel  of,  121  ;  a  Jap- 
anese wheel  of,  123  ;  Buddhist  wheel 
of,  386. 

Lilith,  6g. 

Lion-killing  saviour,  the,  209 

Logos,  147. 

Loki,  243,  245. 

Lombards,  law-code  of  the,  280. 

Loos,  Cornelius,  374. 

Lord's  Supper,  56. 

Louis  XIV.,  379. 

Lucian,  216. 

Liicke,  396. 

Luther,  342  et  seq. 

Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple,  168. 

Madre  dolorosa,  384. 

Magic.  272  ;  and  miracles,   262  et  seq. ; 

religion  of.  302. 
MS,  goddess  of  truth,  22. 
Mahamaya.  the  slayer  of  Mahisha,  440. 
Maitreya,  135 


Manicheism,  234. 

Mansfeld-Thalers,  293,  294. 

Mara,  the  Evil  One,  104  etseq.,  157; 
his  army.  log  et  seq  ;  his  thunderbolt. 
113.  114;  his  daughters,  114. 

Marduk  (Merodach).  41. 

Marlowe,  422. 

Martensen,  396. 

Martyr  of  honest  conduct,  486. 

Mastai,  433, 

Mather,  Cotton,  369  ;   Increase,  369. 

Maut.  229. 

Maximilian,  Emperor,  322. 

Mayence,  Archbishop  of.  310. 

Mazda  (see  also  Ahura),  50,  54,  56,  59, 
60,  62. 

Medard,  St.,  258,  259. 

Medusa,  206.  207. 

Meifu.  the  Dark  Tribunal,  128.  129. 

Men-Kau-Ra,  builder  of  the  third  pyra- 
mid, 27. 

Merlin,  410. 

Merodach  Bel,  38,  39,  445. 

Mesmer,  392  et  seq. 

Messiah,  138,  143,  147. 

Meyfart,  373. 

Mezu,  the  horse-head.  129. 

Michael,  Archangel,  238. 

Midgard  serpent.  239,  243.  245. 

Mill.  Prof.  L.  H.,   52. 

Milton,  351  et  seq. ;  his  Devil  (see  Devil), 
351  ;  his  hell,  352  ;  his  Satan  (see  Sa- 
tan). 353.  451,  486. 

Minucius,  Felix,  265.  266. 

Miracles  and  magic,  262  et  seq.,  270. 

Miron,  Bishop  of  Angers,  362. 

Mirror  of  the  Swabians,  328. 

Mithras,  2ig,  221,  222  ;  Eucharist  of, 
220 ;  worship  of,  220 ;  mysteries  of, 
222. 

mKha'  sGroma,  the  Tibetan  Kali,  99, 
128. 

Moab,  10. 

Molitor,  370  et  seq. 

Moloch,    10,  71,  72,  403. 

Monism,  i. 

Monodiabolism,  i. 

Monotheism,  i,  49,  466. 

Moses.  31,  263. 

Musaeus,  215. 


494 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Namuche,  105,   108. 

Napoleon  III,,  433. 

Naude,  Gabriel,  379,  380. 

Nazarenes,  140. 

Nazareth,  140. 

Nero,   171,  219. 

Nicolaitanes,  168. 

Nidanas,  the  Twelve,  115  et  seq. 

Nider,  Johannes,   317. 

Nietzsche's  immoralism,  448. 

Nirgalli,  45. 

Noah,  Xisuthrus.  the  Babylonian,  32. 

Nomotheisra,  466. 

Okee,  7.  8.  9. 

Oknos,  197  et  seq. 

Old  Testametit,  31,  48,  66,  71. 

Oni-no-Nembutzu,  131,  132. 

Ophites,  232. 

Origin,  233. 

Orpheus,  215. 

Oryx.  15. 

Osiris,  17,  20,  22,  23,  26,  28 

Otto  IV.,  282. 

Outwitted  Devil,  the,  253  et  seq. 

Palnatoke,  12. 

Pantheism,  100.  466. 

Pantism,  74. 

Papiyan,  105,  114. 

Paracelsus,  419. 

Parseeism,  401. 

Passion  plays,  the  Devil  in  the,  288. 

Paul,  St.,    162,    163,    168,  266,  267,  268 

Pavarti.  98. 

Pedigree  of  the  Evil  One,  445. 

Pegasus,  209. 

Peisander,  the  poet,  204. 

Pelagia,  St..  708 

Peregrinus,  216. 

Perithous  and  Theseus.  203. 

Perseus.  204,  208;  and  Andromeda,  12, 

205. 
Persian  Dualism,  50-64. 
Peter.  St..  165,  200;  Epistle  of,  202. 
Pharaoh,  priests  of.  263. 
Pharisees,  140. 
Philo.  138,  219. 
Picart,  M.  Bernhard,  10,  312. 


Pilgi-im's  Progress,    355,  412 

Pi  St  is  Sophia,  78. 

Pius  VI.,  Pope,  393. 

Pius  IX..  Pope,  399,  433 

Plato,  215,  217;  on  hell,  213  et  seq.; 
his  dualism,  215. 

Pleroma,  138. 

Plutarch,  28,  52  ;  on  Hades,  217. 

Pluto,  203. 

Polytheism,  74. 

Polyxena.  12. 

Ponzinibius,  371. 

Pretas,  103. 

Preyer,  Professor,  391. 

Prince  of  the  World.  115,  166. 

Priscillian,  bishop  of  Spain.  308. 

Prometheus,  210,  212,  217,  218;  cruci- 
fied, 211  et  seq. 

Protestant  caricature,  a,  341. 

Puritans,  the  Novatian.   306. 

Ragnarok,   244. 

Rain-priests,  272. 

Rais  (Raiz  or  Retz),  Giles  De,  292.- 

Rakshasas,  103. 

Rawlinson,  Sir  H.,  30. 

Recke,  Countess  Elizabeth  von  der,  394. 

Reformation,   the  age  of  the,   338-369, 

419. 
Reiff.  Fr..  398. 
Reinhard,  395. 
Rekhmara,  tomb  of,  24,  26. 
Religion.  405  ;  the  fear  of  evil,    14  ;  of 

Science,  405. 
Religious  ideas,  good  and  evil  as,  1-5. 
Remigius,  Nicolaus,  360. 
Revelation,  168  et  seq.;  of  St.  John,  201. 
Revival  of  witch-prosecution,  359  et  seq. 
Rhadamantys.  igg. 
Richalmus.  Abbot,   2S7,  288. 
Richelieu,  Cardinal,  365. 
Rooster,  diabolical,  337. 
Roskoff,  312. 
Ruckert,  Friedrich,  253. 
Ruffs,  Jacob.  347,  348. 
Rufinus  of  Aquileja.  408. 

Sabbath.  30. 
Sabians,  139  et  seq. 
Sachs,  Hans,  432. 


INDEX. 


495 


Sacrament,  57. 

Sacrifices,  human,  12,  13,  195,  ig6. 

Sadducees,  140 

St.  Augustine,  282. 

St.  Cuthbert,  256,  257. 

St.  Denys,  412 

St.  Dunstan,  255,  256. 

St.  George,  208,  236,  237,   239. 

St.  John  the  Divine,  167  ;  revelation  of, 

201. 
St.  Peter,  165,  200  ;   Epistle  of,  202. 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  286. 
Salvation,  138  ;  Greek  idea  of,  203  ;   the 
idea  of,  in  Greece  and  Italy,  193-240; 
scheme  of,  261. 
Salvation  Army,  401,  402. 
Sampson,  210. 
Samsara,  120. 
Sanders,  397. 
Sargon,  the  Assyrian  king,  29,  31,  33. 

Sartorius,  Dr.  397. 

Satan,   70  et  seq.,    141,   280;  a  roaring 
lion,  166  ;   Milton's,  353,  451,  4S6. 

Saul,  68. 

Savini  the  Inquisitor,  Nicolas,  275. 

Saviour,   58,    138  ;  the  lion-killing,  209  ; 
Christ  a  better,  217;  of  souls,  230. 

Savonarola,   302,   303  ;  burning  of,  304. 

Sayce,  Professor,  32,  37. 

Sayn,  Henry  of.  313. 

Schaff,  Professor,  396. 

Schelling,  395. 

Schenkel,  395. 

Schlagintweit,  92. 

Schleiermacher,  395,  469. 

Schneider,  Sasha,  471. 

Schoenborn,  Philip  of.  Bishop  of  Wiirz- 
burg,  375. 

Schopenhauer,  153,  471. 

Schottel,  Justus  Georg,  385. 

Schwenter,  Daniel,  390  et  seq. 

Science,  religious  import  of,  402  et  seq. ; 
religion  of,  405  ;   the  new  factor,  449. 

Seb,  26. 

Sechnit  aani'u  (aahlu),  24. 

Seirim,  69. 

Semites,  Accad  and  the  early,  29-49. 

Seneca,  211,  218,  230. 

Serapis,  222,  22S,  229,  475. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount,  142. 


Serpent.  35,  73,  166.  227,  228  ;  Midgard. 

239,  243,  245. 
Servetus,  359. 

Set,  17,  26  ;  Yahveh  and,  ig. 
Seth,  15. 
Setyl.,  i8. 

Shai-espeare,  350  et  seq. 
Shedd.  Dr.  William  G.  T.,  396. 
Shedim,  69. 
Shintoism,  129. 

Shiva  (Siva),  93  et  seq.,  94,  96. 
Sigabert,  418. 
Simon  Magi.us,  139,  264. 
Sinker,  the  Rvv.  Robert,  222. 
Sisyphos,  197  et  seq. 
Siva,  103. 

Smith,  Capt    John    7,  S. 
Snake  charmers,  262. 
Socrates,  226. 
Soldan,  372. 

Son,  of  a  woman,  143  ;  of  God,  143  ;  of 
man,  143. 

SofiMa,  147. 

Sorbonne,  Doctors  of  the,  365. 

Soul,  weighing  the,  188;  saviour  of,  230 

Spee,  Friedrich  von  Langenfeld,    375  et 
seq. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  6,  457. 

Spina,  Bartholomaeus  de,  371. 

Spongheim,  Abbot  of,  325. 

Sprenger,  Jacob,  321. 

Standard  of  goodness,  456  et  seq. 

Stedingers,  306. 

Sterne,  Cams  (Ernst  Krause),  246. 

Stintzing.  Dr.  R.,  288. 

Strauss,  David  Friedrich,  396. 

Struggle,  ethics  of,  241. 

Snmmzs  dcsi'derantes  affectibus,  the 
bull,  321. 

Superpersonal  God,  3-5. 

Sun  god,  wanderings  of,  86. 

Susano,  13. 

Suttner,  Bertha  von,  453. 

Sylvester  II.,  Pope,  417. 

Symbols  not  lies,  3. 

Synod  of  Leptinae,  280. 

Taine,  351. 
Tanner,  Adam,  374. 
Tantalus,  197  et  seq. 


496 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVIL. 


Taour  (Taourt),  15. 

Tartarus,  200  ' 

Tell.  William,  12  :   the  Hindu,  88. 

Templars,  306. 

Tenskwatawa,  268,  269. 

Tertullian,  220. 

Teutonicus,  Johannes,  419. 

Teutonised  Christianity,  245  at  seq. 

Theatriifn  Diabolorutn,  345,  3^6. 

Theogony,  200. 

Theophilus,  415,  416. 

Theophrastus,  152,  419, 

Therapeutae,    138 

Theseus,  203  ;  and  Perithous,  203. 

Thomas,  Aquinas,  St.,  'j86. 

Thomasius,  Christian,  382. 

Thor,  239. 

Thoth,  the  ibis-headed,  22,  24,  26. 

Tiamat,  37  et  seq  ,  41,  43,  63,  209. 

Tiamtu  (Tiamat) ,  34,  35. 

Tigris,  30. 

Tilberiensis,  Gervasius,  282. 

Titans,  200. 

Tobit,   141. 

Toia,  the  Bad  Spirit,  7. 

Tomb  o£  Rekhmara,  24,  26. 

Tophet,  valley  of,  71,  72. 

Torquemada,  316,  403. 

Torture,  the,  325  et  seq. 

Tot,  the  ibis-headed,  229. 

Treasure-Digger,  299,  300. 

Tree  of  life,  35,  36. 

Triglaf,  249. 

Trimurti,  75. 

Trinity,  477  ;   the  Gnostic  idea,  1^5  ;  of 

Salerno,  150;  of  Dis,  249. 
Trithemius,  John,  325,  326,  419. 
Truth,  20. 
Tuamutef,  20. 
Twesten,  397. 

Tylor,    I,  7,  63.  « 

Typhoeus,    199. 
Typhon,  15,  17.  28,  65,  73,  200,  239,  351. 

Upham,  367. 
Urban  IV.,  Pope,  400. 
Urban  V,,  Pope,  312. 
Utilitarianism,  457. 

Vacca,  Flaminius,  226. 
Vajra.  1 13  et  seq. 


Vampires,  103 

Varsavarti,  105,  114. 

Varunani,  80. 

Veldenz,  George  John  of,  372. 

Vicarious  atonement,  261. 

Vilmar,  397. 

Virgin,  holy,  384. 

Virginia,  8. 

Vishnu,  77,  78,  81,  82,  97. 

Voragine,  Jacobus  de,  237. 

Waddell,  L.  E.,  119. 

Waitz,  7. 

Waldenses,  320. 

Wanderings  of  the  sun  god,  86. 

Warren,  H.  C,  in. 

Water  ordeal,  327,  328. 

Webster,  Dr.,  380. 

Weier,  Johannes,  373,  377. 

Weighing,  the  heart,  21  ;  the  50ul,  188. 

Wheel  of  Hell,  385. 

Wheel  of  life,  n8  et  seq.,  125;  an  In- 
dian, 119;  a  Tibetan,  121;  a  Japa- 
nese, 123  ;  the  Buddhist,  386  ;  in  the 
New  Testament,  127. 

White,  Andrew  Dickson,  367,  368. 

Williams,  Sir  Monier-Monier,  74. 

Wisdom,  147. 

Witches,  290,  431  ;  their  Sabbath,  291  ; 
Macbeth's,  349, 

Witch-hammer,  the,  321  et  seq. 

Witch  of  Endor,  68. 

Witch-prosecutions,  67  et  seq  ;  revival 
of,  359  et  seq.;  in  America,  367  et 
seq.;  abolition  of,  370-406. 

Witchfinder-general,  379. 

Wolf  in  ^sop's  fable,  the,  459  et  seq. 

Wiirzburg,  Philip  of  Schoenborn,  Bishop 
of.  375- 

Ximenes,  316. 

Xisuthrus,  the  Babylonian  Noah.  32. 

Yahveh,  70  et  seq  ,  73,  232  ;  and  Set,  19. 
Yezidis,  63. 

Zechariah,  71. 
Zeus,  200,  211. 
Zodiac,  32. 

Zoroaster  (Zarathustra),  50  et  seq.,  53, 
55,  58,  72  ;  prophecy  of,  59. 


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